Chandigarh and Dadra & Nagar Haveli become the first Union Territories to implement programmable digital currency tokens for direct food subsidy transfers, promising improved transparency, speed, and security in welfare delivery.
Chandigarh and Dadra & Nagar Haveli have become the first Union Territories to roll out food subsidy transfers for Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana beneficiaries using programmable central bank digital currency tokens, according to a government announcement on Friday. The new system sends subsidies directly into beneficiaries’ digital rupee wallets rather than into ordinary bank accounts, with the aim of making the process faster, more traceable and harder to misuse.
Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched the initiative at an event in Chandigarh, alongside Punjab Governor and Chandigarh administrator Gulab Chand Kataria, Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi and junior minister Nimuben Jayantibhai Bambhaniya. Chouhan said the model would improve transparency, security and timeliness in the public distribution system, and described the Chandigarh pilot as a template for wider use across the country.
The programme builds on Chandigarh’s earlier direct benefit transfer system, which began in 2015 and shifted food subsidy delivery away from physical distribution and into Aadhaar-linked bank accounts. Officials said the digital rupee version is meant to strengthen that framework by making payments programmable, instantly traceable and restricted to food purchases from empanelled merchants.
According to the government, the CBDC-based model also gives beneficiaries more choice. Alongside wheat and rice, they may be able to opt for pulses and other essential food items, while technological safeguards are intended to ensure the subsidy is used only for approved purchases. Joshi said digital payments were helping authorities deliver benefits more transparently and identify ineligible recipients, adding that the system would not exclude any genuine beneficiary.
The move comes after a similar CBDC-based food currency pilot was launched in Puducherry earlier this year, underlining the government’s push to integrate the Reserve Bank of India’s digital rupee into welfare delivery. For the administration, the latest launch is being presented as an early test of whether programmable money can make India’s food subsidy network more efficient while preserving the political promise of targeted support for poorer households.
Disclaimer: This article is intended to inform and educate, not to recommend or endorse any financial product, investment or strategy. Please consider your own financial circumstances and seek professional advice where appropriate before making financial decisions.
