Vehicle tracking system gets going in Punjab

Advertisement

Chandigarh, April 23

To track transportation of grain from the mandis to godowns, the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department has launched the vehicle tracking system (VTS). A total of 26,250 transport vehicles have been fitted with global positioning system (GPS) devices to track their movement.

The VTS was also being used to issue gate passes (95,421 issued so far) and manual practice has been abolished.

Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Lal Chand Kataruchak said the VTS has been implemented for grain procurement operations for the first time.

He said it would help in tracking movement of trucks, checking pilferage and wheat from other states. The new system would help in optimum utilisation of vehicles by monitoring loading and unloading of trucks, he said.

The minister said this system would help eliminate bogus purchase of wheat and it would also be extremely beneficial in the paddy season to check recycling of paddy from other states.

He said tainted officials of four procurement agencies—namely Markfed, Pungrain, Punjab State Warehousing Corporation and Punsup—had been specifically debarred from being assigned any duties for wheat storage.

Around Rs 11,000 crore has been paid to 3.54 lakh farmers, the minister said.