Karnal: Rice millers livid over linking of mills with distant godowns

Karnal, January 10

Rice millers involved in the custom-milling of rice (CMR) are angry over the linking of their mills with distant godowns, instead of godowns situated near their mills for the delivery of CMR. They alleged that the decision of the FCI had increased their transportation costs, due to which they were not able to deliver the CMR.

Issue will be addressed soon

The linking of godowns was done by the FCI as per the space and requirement of foodgrains in different areas. The issue of Karnal rice millers linking their mills with distant godowns has been brought to the notice of the FCI. We are hopeful that the issue will be addressed soon. Anil Kalra, District Food and Supplies Controller

As per the policy, the millers have to deliver 25 per cent of rice by the end of December and a further 20 per cent by the end of January. The millers say they have to transport rice to the godowns located at distant places, which should be rectified to avoid any inconvenience to the millers.

“We are facing a lot of problems as the FCI has linked our mills with the distant godowns through the Wings App. We have to bear the extra cost of transportation. We also have to wait for months to get our payments, as the FCI takes a long time to verify the rice,” said Sourabh Gupta, district president of the Rice Millers and Dealers Association, Haryana.

“We are demanding that the FCI link our mills to the nearby godowns, where there is enough space available and accept the rice without any delay,” he added.

In such circumstances, they cannot process the paddy allotted to them, he said, adding that they have raised the issue at different platforms. We have informed the authorities that they cannot process the paddy for the delivery of CMR. “The procurement agencies are free to lift their paddy allotted to the millers if the linking is not rectified,” he added.

Anil Kalra, the District Food and Supplies Controller (DFSC), said the linking of godowns was done by the FCI as per the space and requirement of foodgrains in different areas. “The issue of Karnal rice millers linking their mills with distant godowns has been brought to the notice of the FCI. We are hopeful that the issue will be addressed soon,” said the DFSC.