The GPS tracking devices made mandatory for all the
government vehicles.
GPS Tracker mandatory for Government Vehicles
For a long time, there has been misuse of government vehicles
by the government officials. To curb this, Delhi government has made it mandatory
to install GPS in all government
vehicles. This is a deliberate push to increase transparency and end the
misuse. The General Administration Department (GAD) has asked 2 months to
complete the entire process. There are 5000 government-owned and leased vehicle
and GPS installation in them is a large task. The GPS devices have to be
tendered along with setting up a control room. They will require this basic
infrastructure for a smooth process. The chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal has countered this time and has granted only one
month for this process and has advised GAD to speed up the pace. It has been
noted that several government ministers are misusing up to six cars for their
personal and official purposes. Therefore, it has been directed by Delhi
Government that all the highly entitled officers will use only one government
vehicle. According to the order issued
by Delhi government on 24th August, 2018, GAD had sought compliance report
by September 1, mentioning that it will be the responsibility of the heads of
respective departments, corporation boards and other government agencies to
ensure its strict implementation. The GAD has also stated that to prevent the
misuse, the allotment of vehicles to higher designated officer will be done
through an executive order by name. The government has ordered that software
should be developed to link logbook generation with the movement of vehicles
tracked by GPS. The government will not provide fuel expense for the government
vehicles that are not installed with GPS Tracking Devices. Considering the fact that this move will bring
transparency in the system, it has been welcomed by the officials of all the
departments. In order to speed up the process, GAD announced that it will order
all the devices through government E-mart and will not go through time
taking process of issuing tenders.
A proper audit will be conducted to assess the physical
status of the vehicles, look at how effectively the ministries of government
can manage the use of the vehicles, and manage the resources needed for use and
maintenance of the vehicles.
This seems to be a logical and positive step to stop the
misuse of government resources for personal work and will also ensure
transparency.