Buying paddy from errant millers an uphill task

Nellore: The district administration is facing tough time in procuring paddy owing to lack of cooperation from the rice millers. The administration has repeatedly been asking the millers to provide bank guarantees but they have been keeping quiet and consequently only 50 per cent of the target could be completed till now.   

Recently, Agriculture Minister Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy deputed former MLA M Sridhara Krishna Reddy to sort out the problem by opening a dialogue with the millers and that process is still going on.

Initially, the administration asked them to provide up to Rs 150 crore as bank guarantees but the millers could come up with only Rs 30 to Rs 40 crore. Now, officials have come down a few steps are asking for only Rs 75 crore and yet millers are not making any move.

Officiating District Civil Supplies Officer Venkata Ramana said of the 168 Paddy Purchasing Centres set up across the district, only 103 centres are active. Fifty per cent of paddy was only procured against the target of 5,000 metric tonnes per day from all these centres. The rice millers have provided bank guarantees for Rs 40 crore against the demanded of Rs 150 crore, he explained.

“Till not very long ago, the practice has been to give bank guarantee for a nominal amount for procurement. Since 2015-16, it has become burdensome with the administration taking cheques from them,” said one miller on condition of anonymity. 

Last year, district administration had cracked whip at the errant millers who failed to supply milled rice. They arrested two millers after booking cases against them. Twenty-three millers or leaseholders agreed to mill the rice but the Civil Supplies department is yet to receive 19,258 tonnes of milled rice from them.

Even though the millers were warned of action under the Revenue Recovery (RR) Act, there has been no response from them due to “internal corruption” and “support” from the “errant” administrative mechanism.

This year, the farmers were bringing crops in huge quantities, but the district administration has failed to make arrangement for hassle-free procurement because of the attitude of the millers.

An official from the Civil Supplies department said: “We had supplied paddy directly from purchasing centres to millers in Kovuru and Bogole mandals but they had not returned the milled rice even after two years. “We have served notices on them, but it had no impact on them,” he said.

By PV Prasad