Gujarat: 250 warehouses, 17,000 fair price shops brought under digital grain tracking system
Gandhinagar, Sep 1 (IANS) Gujarat is bringing its grain distribution network under real-time digital monitoring, with GPS tracking of transport vehicles and about 7,000 CCTV cameras being used to oversee the movement and storage of foodgrains from warehouses to fair price shops across the state.
The Gujarat State Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd (GSCSCL), a state government joint venture, has introduced an ICT Logistics Software system to digitise supply-chain operations covering 250 warehouses and around 17,000 Pandit Deendayal Grahak Bhandar, or fair price shops.
The initiative is aimed at improving monitoring and verification of the movement of grains and other commodities through the Public Distribution System (PDS).
Under the supervision of Food and Civil Supplies Minister Raman Solanki, the logistics system allows real-time tracking of vehicles transporting supplies from Food Corporation of India (FCI) depots to state warehouses and subsequently to fair price shops.
The vehicles are fitted with GPS, while machine-learning-based route optimisation is used to determine and monitor routes.
The system generates immediate alerts if a vehicle deviates from its designated route or if its GPS connection is disconnected.
Geofencing has been introduced at warehouses and fair price shops, while Electronic Proof of Delivery (EPOD) is used to verify consignments received at the designated locations.
Monitoring is further centralised through a Command-and-Control Centre at the GSCSCL headquarters, where suspicious activities can be tracked continuously.
The PDS portal provides live information on warehouse stocks and generates daily, weekly and monthly dashboard reports.
It has also been integrated with the ICT Logistics Project and the FCI’s ‘Anna Darpan’ portal. Security at warehouses has been strengthened with the installation of around 7,000 CCTV cameras, including Bullet, Dome, PTZ and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras.
The cameras are intended to help monitor warehouses and prevent theft and adulteration. A Video Wall system has also been installed to facilitate live viewing of CCTV feeds.
Monitoring can be carried out at warehouses, the offices of Deputy District Managers and District Supply Officers, as well as the Command-and-Control Centre at the head office.
The corporation has also digitised procurement from farmers through the Farmer Procurement Portal (FPP).
Grain procurement under the system is carried out at the Minimum Support Price (MSP), with farmer registration and procurement subject to verification of Aadhaar details, bank accounts and land ownership documents.
The verification process uses demographic and biometric authentication. Farmers are also sent SMS updates at different stages of registration and procurement, providing them with information on the progress of their transactions.
–IANS
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