Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s Sunday visit to Gandhinagar’s Mahatma Mandir will witness history: the unveiling of India’s inaugural CBDC-integrated Public Distribution System, a fusion of cutting-edge fintech and essential welfare services.
Under Gujarat’s Food, Civil Supplies, and Consumer Affairs banner, this PNB-developed, RBI-sanctioned system channels subsidies as digital tokens in beneficiaries’ wallets—complete with product specs—for frictionless PDS transactions.
Initial rollout spans 26,333 families in key areas: Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati, Surat, Anand, and Valsad. Tech-savvy users scan QR codes; others use Aadhaar OTPs, bridging urban-rural and digital gaps effectively.
Dignitaries including CM Bhupendra Patel, Union Minister Prahlad Joshi, and Dy CM Harsh Sanghvi will grace the occasion. Complementing CBDC are quality-assured 1-kg sealed tuvar and chana packets for NFSA rations, plus the revolutionary 24×7 ‘Annapurti Grain ATM’ in Sabarmati, dispensing 25 kg grains in under 40 seconds.
Consumer empowerment gets a boost via MoUs with CARE Ratings and CERC for an Accountability Index, alongside a streamlined extrajudicial dispute resolution framework.
The event spotlights nutrition with Rs 1.65 crore CSR allocation for ‘Garima Poshan’ in Garudeshwar taluka, funding two exemplary anganwadis and focused interventions against malnutrition among adolescent girls and pregnant women.
Gujarat’s bold strides signal a future where digital currencies eradicate PDS inefficiencies, ensuring food security with speed, security, and scale.