Worldwide, healthcare systems increasingly rely on digital tools to strengthen service delivery through improved data, quicker decisions, and broader access. India’s Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) reflects this shift by introducing the ABHA ID, a national digital health identity designed to store and link medical records across facilities. While conceptually positioned as a pathway to more efficient care, the introduction of digital identity unfolds unevenly in rural maternal-health settings shaped by mistrust, documentation instability, and limited digital literacy. Drawing from my doctoral research, this study examines how early encounters of rural women and frontline health workers, with ABHA, directs their navigation of digital health identity in maternal care. Fieldwork was conducted in villages of Bulandshahr district, involving semi-structured interviews with fifty pregnant Jatav women, alongside key informant interviews with three Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), two Community Health Officers, and one regional manager. Data were collected through purposive sampling. Findings indicate that women’s engagement with ABHA is marked by uncertainty about its purpose, mistrust with state documentation, and exclusion resulting from Aadhaar-linked mismatches. Despite receiving digital training, ASHAs describe difficulty navigating the ABHA portal or resolving authentication errors - disrupting their ability to deliver care. Interpreted through James Scott’s concept of legibility and Foucault’s work on biopower, the study attempts to examine how digital health identity exposes the tension between systems that rely on accurate, stable data and the fluid, relational realities of rural maternal care, where access is negotiated through trust, documents, and human mediation rather than technology alone.

Authors:
Deepanshi Gandheel, University of Delhi, India

About the Presenter(s)
Ms. Deepanshi Gandheel is a doctoral student in the Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi, with her doctoral research focusing upon maternal health and nutrition among rural women of Jatav community, in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepanshi-gandheel-076a5920b

See this presentation on the full schedule – Tuesday Schedule

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