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Daily Pioneer (Puducherry CBDC pilot rollout) · India · India's free grain scheme reaches 813 million people as government tests digital food tokens and rewrites the ration law
Ground-level report from Puducherry: 50,000 beneficiary families received e-Rupee food tokens on February 26. Tokens are month-valid, Aadhaar-linked, and work at any of Puducherry's 258 Fair Price Shops via a point-of-sale device. FPS dealers receive instant payment settlement from FCI rather than waiting for monthly reconciliation. Early beneficiary feedback was mixed: smartphone penetration among AAY families is below 50%, requiring FPS dealers to help with token redemption at the counter.
“50,000 Puducherry families received e-Rupee food tokens on February 26; smartphone penetration below 50% among AAY households requires dealer-assisted redemption.”