Millers refuse to accept fresh paddy, want govt to move out earlier stock
Rice millers in the state have announced not to store the paddy produce arriving in the mandis during the ongoing procurement season. The decision was taken at a general body meeting of the Punjab Rice Millers Association and the Punjab Rice Industry Association held here today. Representatives of the sheller owners’ association alleged the government was planning to phase out paddy procurement across the state.
Clear ~2K cr dues
For the past four months, the Food and Supplies Department has been making false promises of refunding the security, transportation charges and 10 per cent security deducted over the past 6-7 years. The amount has crossed ~2,000 crore. Even the user charges for bardana (gunny bags) have not been paid for 2023-24. Tarsem Lal, President of millers’ body
President of the All India Rice Millers Association Tarsem Lal said, “There is a problem of plenty. The government has surplus stock of rice and is facing storage issues.”
“There is no space to store fresh produce. We urge the government to store the yield in its godowns. Formulate a policy and export the foodgrain. For the past four months, the Food and Supplies Department, Punjab, has been making false promises of refunding the security, transportation charges and 10 per cent security deducted over the past 6-7 years. The amount has crossed Rs 2,000 crore. Even the user charges for bardana (gunny bags) have not been paid for 2023-24. Taking into consideration all these things, we do not think it appropriate to continue the business,” Lal said.
Owners of around 5,600 rice shellers from across the state participated in the meeting.
Saini said the government stocked paddy at shellers after procurement and the milled rice was later picked up by the FCI. “Having surplus stocks for the past two years, the FCI now has no space to keep fresh stocks,” he said.
“At a meeting with CM Bhagwant Mann on September 26, we were assured that the government will compel the Centre to accelerate the movement of rice so as to create space for fresh arrivals, but nothing has happened so far. Many sheller owners, who had kept excess stocks with them, are now reeling under heavy financial burden. Neither the Deputy Commissioner concerned nor the Food Department has come forward to help them out,” Lal added.
Punjab Rice Industry Association president Bharat Bhushan Binta said, “The losses are mounting. Many sheller owners have hired godowns on heavy rents to store paddy. They are also incurring losses due to rotting of paddy in godowns due to unfavourable weather conditions. All this has made the trade completely unviable. It has been decided that we will not store the new produce till our dues are not cleared and the old stock is moved out.”
muktsar: The paddy procurement season began on Tuesday, but the fresh crop has not yet started arriving in mandis in Muktsar district so far, according to an official of the Punjab State Agricultural Marketing Board. An official of the Agriculture Department said the crop harvesting was expected to begin next week in the district. Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Rajesh Tripathi visited some mandis to take stock of the preparedness for procurement of paddy.
fatehgarh sahib: The procurement of paddy could not be started even on the second day in Fatehgarh Sahib district. Deputy Commissioner Dr Sona Thind along with some officials visited various grain markets in the district on Wednesday. At the Amloh grain market, she tried hard to convince commission agents to start paddy procurement, but they remained adamant saying they would not do so till their strike was on. Paddy has, however, started arriving at Sirhind, Amloh, Khamano, Bassi Pathana and Mandi Gobindgarh grain markets.
(With inputs from Archit Wats & Surinder Bhardwaj)
