After Gujarat, the food ministry on Thursday launched a pilot on RBI’s central bank digital currency (CBDC)-based food subsidy distribution under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) in Puducherry.
The move is aimed at plugging leakages and ensure beneficiaries get quality food grains.
Purpose-Bound Tokens
Under the pilot, a limited number of beneficiaries after eKYC are able to scan the fair price shop (FPS) QR code to redeem their food coupons and collect foodgrains and other items. “Beneficiaries can redeem their entitled quantity of foodgrains at Fair Price Shops (FPS) or merchant outlets using CBDC coupon or voucher codes.
The system will address challenges related to biometric authentication and e-POS operational issues while ensuring secure, traceable, and real-time transactions,” Food Minister Prahalad Joshi said after launching the pilot in Puducherry.
This would relieve ration card holders from biometric authentication hassles at FPSs, and the government can track whether beneficiaries use these coupons for food purposes or not, he said.
From Gujarat to Pan-India
The government is likely to roll out more pilots to ascertain feasibility of using digital currency in plugging leakages in the PDS.