Global Positioning Scam

A senior food ministry official who recently visited Chhattisgarh, which boasts one of the best public distribution systems, noted that the Global Positioning Systems (GPS) installed in the trucks that carry foodgrain from Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns to ration shops are not foolproof. The GPS monitoring centre always showed that the trucks that left the FCI godowns reached their destinations on time and followed the designated route. On a surprise field visit, however, the officer discovered that the GPS devices were removed from the trucks as soon as they left the godowns and fitted on to a motorbike, which then followed the designated path while the grain-filled truck went somewhere else. So much for using technology to check manipulation.