Gandhinagar, Feb 13: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will inaugurate India’s first Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)-based Public Distribution System (PDS) on Sunday at the Mahatma Mandir in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar, government officials said on Friday.
The initiative, undertaken by the Gujarat Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department, introduces subsidy transfers through the Reserve Bank of India-authorised CBDC platform.
The system has been developed by the Punjab National Bank and will provide beneficiaries with digital tokens in their wallets containing details of the commodity, quantity and price.
Under the pilot phase, 26,333 families in the Sabarmati zone of Ahmedabad, as well as in Surat, Anand and Valsad, have been covered.
Beneficiaries using smartphones will authenticate transactions through QR codes, while those with feature phones will receive one-time passwords under an Aadhaar-based verification system.
Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi and Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi will attend the launch.
In addition to the CBDC-based system, the state government will introduce distribution of tur and chana in standardised one kg sealed packs for National Food Security Act beneficiaries, replacing loose distribution to maintain quality standards.
An ‘Annapurti Grain ATM’ will also be launched in the Sabarmati zone of Ahmedabad.
Designed to function round the clock, the machine can dispense up to 25 kg of grain within 35 seconds.
The state will also sign memoranda of understanding with Care Rating and the Consumer Education and Research Centre to introduce a Consumer Responsibility Index for rating companies.
A conciliation and pre-litigation mechanism aimed at facilitating faster, out-of-court settlement of consumer disputes will be established.
Separately, under the ‘Garima Poshan – Suposhit Garudeshwar Taluka’ campaign, Rs 1.65 crore from the CSR funds of Gujarat State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited will be allocated to efforts to address malnutrition in Garudeshwar taluka of Narmada district.
The project includes the establishment of two model anganwadis and targeted health interventions for adolescent girls and pregnant women.
–IANS