Union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh says welfare payments under the Panchayati Raj system will use voter ID details and biometric authentication rather than Aadhaar. The change would require beneficiaries to provide their EPIC number, which the government says will be used to identify recipients and process payments.

Several outlets report that the proposal arrives amid political dispute over voter rolls. The Opposition and parties including Congress and CPI(M) raise concerns that linking benefits to electoral identifiers could block people whose names are removed from electoral rolls, potentially creating additional hurdles—particularly for rural residents—when they try to access welfare.

Outlet framing varies in emphasis. Some stories foreground the welfare-payment mechanism (voter IDs combined with biometrics), while others lead with the controversy around alleged wrongful voter deletions and “vote chori.” Across coverage, the reported policy thrust is consistent: voter ID and biometrics are presented as the replacement for Aadhaar in eligibility and payment processing.