After rejection of rice samples, Punjab millers wary of lifting high-moisture paddy

The rejection of rice samples shipped from Punjab to several states has triggered fear psychosis among rice millers over milling of this year’s paddy, thus affecting the procurement once again.

“Forced” by the state government to lift paddy from mandis, despite having moisture content above the prescribed limit, the millers said they won’t accept paddy with even the slightest deviation from the norms.

With millers being asked to replace stacks of rice, whose samples failed in Hubballi in Karnataka and Banderdewa in Arunachal Pradesh, they said they would not succumb under pressure of the state government and lift new paddy produce, which does not adhere to quality specifications, including having a moisture content of below 17 per cent.

Bharat Bhushan Binta, president, Punjab Rice Industries’ Association, said the paddy, which does not meet the quality norms, won’t be accepted by the millers. “Due to high moisture content, around 30-35 lakh metric tonnes of paddy will remain unsold this year,” he said.

Of the 119.70 LMT of paddy purchased till today, only 60 per cent (71.90 LMT) has been lifted. As of date, 4.98 LMT of paddy is unsold.

The millers have accused the state government of using the police force and “mild threats” of re-opening old cases against them, if they did not lift the paddy. Even videos of cops being called in order to force millers to accept paddy in Faridkot district have gone viral on social media.

In Mamdot and Makhu, the millers alleged that the administration forced them to accept paddy with higher moisture content.

Ranjit Singh Josan, a rice miller from Ferozepur, said, “The paddy being forced on millers by commission agents and farmers, with active support of civil and police administration, has a moisture content of 20 to 22 per cent. If we accept such paddy, the rice shelled from it will be much less than the prescribed Out Turn Ratio of 67 per cent. We will have to buy rice from the open market and then give it to the FCI.”

Tarsem Saini, president, Punjab Rice Millers’ Association, said there’s a deep-rooted conspiracy against us. “First all samples of Fortified Rice Kernel were rejected last year. This year, the Centre failed to accept the rice milled for the previous procurement season till last month, as their godowns were full. Since milling of this paddy went on till end of summer, the paddy kept losing moisture. We were forced to give them 67 per cent rice for each quintal of paddy, thus incurring huge losses.”

Saini added, “Now, we are being forced to replace the rice found damaged in other states, which was from paddy milled two years ago. Once rice from Punjab was dispatched, after quality checks, the responsibility lay with the recipient state or the agency handling transportation of grain. We request Punjab Government to send a team of their officials along with officials of the FCI to the states where rice was found to be Below Rejection Limit. This will bring out the truth.”

Centre taking revenge

The PM Modi-led Centre is taking revenge for the year-long farmers’ protest, which forced them to rollback three farm laws. If rice was sent after quality checks, how can it still be the responsibility of Punjab? It may have got damaged during storage in other states. The problem lies in storage and transportation. However, its being presented as if Punjab’s rice is of poor quality. Malvinder Singh Kang, AAP MP

Poor storage to blame

How can the Centre be blamed for the damaged rice? If samples of rice from Punjab failed in other states, it may be due to poor storage. It seems to be a fashion in AAP to blame the Centre for everything. Vineet Joshi, BJP Spokesperson