BJP Alleges Rs.6,000 Cr Paddy Scam in Telangana

Hyderabad: BJP Legislature Party leader Alleti Maheshwar Reddy has alleged that farmers in Telangana are being looted of Rs.6,000 crore every year at paddy procurement centres under the pretext of moisture content, discolouration and wastage. He asked why the state government was not taking action against the erring civil supplies officers and millers. He alleged that unseasonal rains damaged large quantities of paddy at procurement centres due to delayed procurement and faulty weighing machines.

Addressing reporters at the State BJP office in Hyderabad on Thursday, Maheshwar Reddy criticised the government for shifting procurement responsibilities from Indira Kranti Pathakam centres to primary agricultural cooperative societies, which, he said, had worsened the situation. Despite raising the issue with civil supplies minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, no corrective measures were taken, he charged.

Maheshwar Reddy said millers were cheating farmers by deducting 10 kg per quintal for normal paddy and 16 kg for fine-quality paddy, citing moisture and wastage. Even after Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s assurance, the millers and procurement centers have continued to collect 10 per cent extra for normal paddy and 16 per cent extra for fine quality paddy, he alleged.

He alleged that millers have illegally withheld 13 lakh tonnes of paddy from the 130 lakh tonnes produced in this Yasangi season under the guise of moisture loss. He also accused the government of failing to act against millers who have not returned custom-milled rice to the civil supplies department.

The BJLP leader demanded that the state disclose how many lakh tonnes of custom-milled rice are yet to be recovered and how many cases have been filed against errant millers. He questioned why the government has not invoked the Revenue Recovery Act to recover pending stocks.