Parl panel for GPS on vehicles carrying food grains

New Delhi: A Parliamentary panel has suggested installation of GPS (Global Positioning System) on vehicles carrying subsidised foodgrains and revamp the village grain bank schemes to make them more effective. To curb the menace of diversion and leakage of foodgrains, GPS system should be installed in vehicles carrying Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) foodgrains in all the states/Union Territories on top priority, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution said in a report presented to Lok Sabha today. [caption id=“attachment_297784” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Reuters”]  [/caption] The committee, headed by Vilas Muttemwar, observed that it has been found that the level of diversion of wheat in Assam and Mizoram is 100 percent for APL families and that of rice is 83.38 percent and 81.12 percent, respectively. It also underlined the need to revamp village grain bank schemes in a bid to make them more effective. The committee noted that about 16,196 village grain banks have been established by state/UT governments against 21,751 such banks sanctioned by the Food department. “The committee have been given the impression that the scheme is not successful at large,” the report said. The, committee, therefore, have strongly recommended that the department should thoroughly modify/revamp the scheme at the earliest to make it viable/effective, it added. PTI