Bargarh: In a classic example of how the system is tilted in favour of the rich and mighty, farmers here are not being allowed to sell their produce at local markets if they are found to have outstanding dues on water tax and land tax, while on the other hand there is no action against rice millers who have dues worth crores of rupees.
The inequity emerged during the ongoing paddy procurement process in Bargarh district.
It is learnt that millers are yet to supply 23.12 lakh quintals of custom-milled rice (CMR) to the Orissa State Civil Supplies Corporation (OSCSC). The cost of total rice at the rate of Rs 2,541.00 per quintal has been estimated at Rs 587.72 crore. Despite this massive outstanding amount, the millers are given permission to collect paddy in the district.
There have been instances when some unscrupulous millers manage to misappropriate the custom rice leading to loss in crores of rupees towards the state exchequer. In Atabira and Kumelsingha areas, the traders even sold their machinery and fled the district after misappropriating government rice. Reluctance of the department in collecting the rice from the millers raises questions about the involvement of some officials in such cases, said farmers.
According to the practice, the civil supplies department procures paddy from the farmers through primary agricultural cooperative societies (PACS) and distributes them among rice millers. The millers process the paddy and supply the rice back to the department and get payment towards processing and transportation. The civil supplies department in turn supplies the rice to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and gets payment of Rs 2,541 per quintal.
In the 2015-16 fiscal (till June 6), the department received 29.06 lakh quintals of rice in place of 52.19 lakh quintals which is just 55.68 per cent of the total rice. Despite repeated reminders from the managing director of OSCSC, the district unit is yet to succeed in collecting the rest of the consignment. Government regulations mandate civil supplies officers to visit the mills regularly to check the stored rice and paddy and also inspect the milling capacity of the rice mill. However, the officials hardly bother to work according to the regulations which results in increasing quantity of outstanding rice with the millers, it is alleged. The government is set to lose nearly Rs 600 crore due to such irregularities, it is claimed.
On the other hand, the department includes defaulters in paddy procurement to prevent stalemate during the process. In the last procurement process, custom rice up to 53 per cent are due from 44 of the 104 mills those were present at various mandis of the district.
List of major defaulters included – Namo Narayan Food Products, Maa Samaleswar, Motilal Makhanlal, Sarda Rice Mill, Sri Balaji Agro, Kaleswar Rice Mill, Shankhollia Rice Mill, Sagar Food Products, Gajalaxmi Foods and Rice Processors, Shankar Rice Industries, Geetanjali Food Products, Shankar Rice Mill, Shakambari Rice Mill, Sri Sai Food Processors, Padmabati Rice Mill, Vaishnodevi Agro Industry and Mahima Rice Mills.
Civil supplies officials of Bargarh have been asked by the department to collect the outstanding rice on a war footing by September 15 this year.
When contacted, district civil supplies officer Bijay Kumar Rath said measures are being taken to collect the rice from the defaulting millers. PNN
