V&E Inspections Detect 1.90 Lakh Quintals Paddy Diversion in Telangana
The inspections revealed that more than 1.90 lakh quintals of paddy and about 1.72 lakh bags were found diverted or short, resulting in a financial loss exceeding Rs.60 crore to the State Exchequer
Hyderabad: In a coordinated operation, the Vigilance and Enforcement (V&E) department carried out simultaneous inspections of 19 rice mills covering nine districts in the State, as part of a Statewide special enforcement drive to prevent diversion of the government supplied paddy.
The inspections were conducted in Mahabubabad, Peddapalli, Ranga Reddy, Vikarabad, Narayanpet, Suryapet, Nalgonda, Kamareddy and Nizamabad.
Of these mills, 14 mills were found to be involved in serious irregularities including diversion, shortage and misappropriation of Custom Milled Rice (CMR) paddy meant for distribution by the government, while five mills got notices and placed under close surveillance for violations of record maintenance and statutory requirements, V&E Director-General Shikha Goel said in a statement on Tuesday.
The inspections revealed that more than 1.90 lakh quintals of paddy and about 1.72 lakh bags were found diverted or short, resulting in a financial loss exceeding Rs.60 crore to the State Exchequer. The wing also issued notices to five mill owners for indulging in irregularities and multiple cases were booked for in this regard.
Major instances of diversion were detected in Narayanpet district, where paddy worth about Rs.15.91 crore was found missing from two rice mills. In Kamareddy and Nizamabad districts, shortages worth about Rs.19.73 crore were detected.
In Suryapet district, diversion of the government paddy worth about Rs.19.32 crore was established; while shortages worth about Rs.11.38 crore was found in Peddapalli district. In Mahabubabad district, diversion worth about Rs.4.86 crore was detected, while in Ranga Reddy district, diversion of CMR stock valued at about Rs.88 lakh was noticed.
She said a rice mill – Janakirama Industries at Poosala village of Sultanabad Mandal in Peddapalli district, was closed after issuing a show-cause notice by the Civil Supplies department for serious violations.
In addition, criminal proceedings were already completed in the case of Maruti Industries in Manthani, which had earlier been booked for similar offences.
The vigilance teams also found that in several mills, diversion had been taking place over multiple seasons, indicating a systematic and organised misuse of government-supplied paddy. In certain mills, statutory registers were not maintained properly, while in others, huge quantities of CMR paddy were found missing despite being duly allotted by the Civil Supplies department.
Based on the Vigilance findings, multiple criminal cases are being registered against the defaulting rice millers. Requisitions have been issued to the Civil Supplies department in all affected districts for recovery of Government losses, cancellation of licences, blacklisting of errant millers and initiation of prosecution under relevant laws.
Show-cause notices have also been issued wherever recordkeeping violations were noticed. Through intelligence based targeting and swift field action, the department has exposed high-value frauds and prevented further leakage of government stocks.
