Now, Cong govt readies to blow the lid off ‘rice scam’

Hyderabad: After the Kaleshwaram and Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) scams, the State government is ready to unearth a big ‘Rice Scam’ during the BRS rule. Following the series of reports of the rice millers defaulting on Custom Milled Rice (CMR), the government has begun a detailed probe into the misuse of paddy for CMR by the rice millers.

Most of the rice millers did not deliver rice to the government from 2021 to 2023, when the BRS was in power. Top officials of the State Civil Supplies wing said that numerous complaints have been received from the district. It was disclosed that district civil supplies officials were colluded with the rice millers and caused huge loss to the government in some cases, and in other cases, the rice mill management diverted the CMR for other purposes with the support of the BRS leaders in the previous government.

Sources said that the Vigilance and Enforcement wing of the Civil Supplies department conducted raids recently and booked cases. A BRS leader and former MLA of Nizamabad district was caught red-handed for selling the paddy meant for CMR to some commercial establishments in other States. The preliminary investigation revealed that most of the rice mills in Karimangar districts have not delivered custom milled rice to the government in the 2021-2022 season. The old Nalgonda district, which is a hub of rice mills, was also under radar for not delivering at least 40 per cent of the CMR in the last monsoon season in the State.

The data on paddy stocks and rice collected from the rice mills were against the official figures; the authorities said that millers had to deliver rice within six months. In many cases, the rice mill management violated the condition and exploited the paddy resources for profits. As a result, the government incurred huge losses, and finally the civil supplies department was facing a mounting burden of Rs 56,000 crore debts.

Sources said that the civil supplies wing was compiling every data of the CMR during the 10 year BRS rule and the financial liabilities caused to the State due to the neglect of the previous regime. An investigative report would also be released soon.