Telangana Government Cracks A Whip On Defaulted Rice Millers
CM Revanth Reddy orders officials to recover dues from rice millers; directed for the formulation of guidelines for the recovery of dues
Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Wednesday ordered a crackdown on rice millers who have defaulted on Custom Milled Rice (CMR) obligations and directed officials to intensify efforts to recover the entire amount due from them.
The Chief Minister said the government would adopt a cooperative approach towards millers who conducted business genuinely, but warned that those deliberately evading payments would be dealt with sternly.
Revanth Reddy, along with civil supplies minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, reviewed the performance of the civil supplies department at MCRHRDI on Wednesday.
The Chief Minister accused the previous BRS government of irregularities in the recovery of dues from rice millers, which, he said, had resulted in arrears running into thousands of crores of rupees. He also criticised Opposition parties for blaming the present government for seeking to recover the accumulated dues.
After officials briefed him on the progress of recovery, Revanth Reddy directed them to ensure that the value of “every single grain” was recovered from defaulting millers.
He asked officials to frame specific guidelines for the recovery process and submit them to the Cabinet sub-committee. The government would take an appropriate decision after examining the committee’s recommendations, he said.
The Chief Minister also announced that paddy earlier allotted to millers who had become defaulters would instead be allocated to women’s self-help groups, which would be entrusted with milling operations.
Taking note of recurring problems in storing paddy stocks during every procurement season, Revanth Reddy directed officials to immediately prepare an action plan to augment storage facilities.
As part of the plan, a pilot project for setting up silo bag storage facilities will be taken up in high paddy-producing districts, including Nalgonda, Suryapet, Nizamabad, Peddapalli and Kamareddy.
The Chief Minister said 50 to 100 acres would be allotted in each Assembly constituency for establishing silo bag facilities, which would be managed by women’s self-help groups.
He said a meeting would be convened with the ministers for revenue, civil supplies and women’s welfare to discuss the construction and management of the facilities.
Revanth Reddy also asked officials to explore the construction of spacious paddy drying platforms under the VB-G RAM G scheme and the use of German tents for temporary paddy storage.
Officials were further directed to identify private warehouses, function halls, old cinema theatres and other suitable sheds at the mandal and village levels in advance and lease them for paddy storage when required.
CMO principal secretary V. Seshadri, civil supplies commissioner Stephen Ravindra, South India Rice Millers Association president Thudi Devender Reddy and other officials attended the review meeting.
