Odisha millers protest mandi tagging

JEYPORE: Kharif paddy procurement is yet to step up in Koraput with millers demanding immediate resolution of the mandi tagging crisis by the administration.In a memorandum to the Collector submitted through district Civil Supplies officer, the millers’ association demanded review of the new Mandi Mill Depot Fairshop (MMDF) guidelines under which they have been tagged to inconvenient locations. It also demanded revision of the tagging schedule to speed up procurement.

Under MMDF, issued this year as a cost-cutting measure, millers were to be tagged to nearby mandis to cut down on transportation cost borne by the State Civil Supplies Corporation. But in the data fed by the latter, participating millers have been tagged to far-off locations. For instance, while some Jeypore millers have been tagged to Kotpad which about 50 km away, others have been  tagged to places like Narayanpatana, Bandhugam and Laxmipur which are over 100 km from the town. Similarly, Kotpad millers have been tagged to Borrigumma mandis. 

As per reports, all the millers were procuring paddy from areas within 20 km radius for the past several years. “My mill is in Jeypore but I have been tagged to Kotpad mandi which is so far,” said Jaganath Satapathy, a miller in Jeypore.