Millers irked over move on rice procurement

JEYPORE: At a time when the paddy procurement in Jeypore district has been stalled due to the dispute between farmers and the State Civil Supply Corporation over FAQ standard, the millers are now upset with the department as the latter directed Government centres to stop receiving rice from the millers recently.

As a result of the recent direction by the corporation to the rice receiving centres of the Government, uncertainty prevails over participation of millers and agents in mandis.Sources said the corporation had procured about 21 lakh quintal of paddy from farmers during the last kharif marketing season through PACs in mandis. Later, the procured crop was distributed among at least 93 millers as per the custom milling process.

According to the Government norms, the millers should have delivered about 15 lakh quintal of rice to rice-receiving centres by September 2017. However, due to the alleged mismanagement of the officials of the Food and Civil Supply Department, enough space was not available to store the procured crop, the sources said. Only 47 rice millers had apparently met the target, delivering 11 lakh quintal rice within the stipulated time.

Earlier, the members of millers’ association had met State Civil Supply and Consumer Welfare Secretary in Bhubaneswar, apprising him of the space problem of the Civil Supply Corporation. They had urged the Secretary to extend the deadline for paddy delivery and provide storage facilities as required. The Secretary had allowed the millers to deliver the rice by December 10, following which the millers geared up to deliver the pending rice stocks and about 3.50 lakh quintal stock was cleared by December 8.
Even as the millers were about to deliver the targeted amount, the fresh direction of the Corporation to stop rice delivery has irked the millers who claimed that at least 50,000 quintal of rice stock is pending.
“The Civil Supply Corporation has been harassing the millers by stopping delivery of the pending rice. The Corporation has not provided godowns to keep the rice stock of millers. The millers are being punished for no fault of theirs,” Koraput District Millers secretary, Gopal Panda, said.
Meanwhile, the millers demanded that the Corporation should immediately take the pending rice stocks from them.

Contacted, District Civil Supply Officer BC Dash said the administration had been communicating with the State Civil Supply Corporation to sort out the problem at the earliest. “There will be proper procurement of paddy from farmers as well as rice from the millers in a couple of days,” he added.