No paddy for millers who defaulted: Cabinet panel

Hyderabad: The cabinet sub-committee decided on Wednesday not to give paddy procured this Kharif season to rice millers who defaulted on returning milled rice to the govt for paddy supplied to them in the previous season.
The sub-committee comprises deputy chief minister Bhatti Vikramarka, civil supplies minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy, IT and industries minister D Sridhar Babu, and agriculture minister Tummala Nageswara Rao.
The decision to not make paddy allocation for rice millers who defaulted was taken to ensure compliance and accountability among millers. The defaulters must promptly deliver custom milled rice (CMR) dues to the govt without further delay, Uttam said.
The state govt recently constituted the cabinet sub-committee to study various issues related to paddy procurement and make recommendations to resolve these issues. This was the second meeting of the committee on Wednesday. The sub-committee will study and make recommendations to the govt on issues like hiring of godowns, bank guarantees from rice millers, milling charges, and paddy drainage issues.
On the other hand, millers brought to the notice of the sub-committee recently that if 100kg of fine variety paddy is milled, they get only 58kg of rice. For every 100kg of coarse variety paddy milled, they get 67kg of rice.
The rice millers highlighted the financial strain they have been facing due to delayed payments from the govt. They said dues have been pending since the 2016-17 procurement operations, causing cash flow disruptions that have hampered their ability to manage daily operations.
The cabinet sub-committee assured millers that their issues would be discussed with the chief minister and resolved soon.