Tug of war between state government and the rice millers in C.G

It is a known fact that justified or unjustified delay on the part of state government in Chhattisgarh State in settling practical difficulties and issues with the State Association of rice millers has resulted in revenue losses to the exchequer year after year.

The present impasse has arisen on account of the following factors:

The millers have stopped lifting the balance five lakh metric tonnes of paddy procured during 2012-13 on the ground that it has become unfit for milling, although the government has made it compulsory for lifting by the millers by sending









 instructions to the collectors through a circular.

2)  secondly the government has issued orders for reserving the milling capacity of each miller in a district compulsorily for six months.

3).  On realising the mood of the millers not to lift the damaged paddy on the eve of the Lok Sabha polls, the government kept quiet for a while. But soon after the elections the government has issued orders for compulsory lifting and milling which has put the millers in a fix.

4)  The millers are not in a mood to oblige the state government whereas the present procurement will come to an end only on June 30, 2014.

5). The paddy of 2011-12 which remained un-lifted were sold to the millers as cattle feed after floating tenders in the meanwhile on the instructions of the central government. This paddy (about 40 thousand tonnes) was purchased at the rate of Rs 1080 per quintal  during 2011-12 but it was now sold at the rate of Rs 700 per quintal only causing enormous loss to the state.

6).  The millers are complaining that the remaining quantity of paddy is in damaged condition. On the testing of paddy in private mills the recovery of rice is only 30 kilos as against the standard recovery of 67 kilos. Even there,  90 percent of rice recovered is found spoiled. The government doesn't seem to be serious about the testing facility even now unfortunately.

+++++++++++++++++++++++