Custom Milled Rice dues worth over Rs 1100 crore to be recovered

Much of the CMR dues owed to the corporation were for four marketing seasons: Yasangi 2019-20 and 2020-21 and Vanakalam 2021-22 and 2022–23.

Hyderabad: Even as the State Civil Supplies Corporation has been working with a sense of urgency to put its operations back on track, the recovery of Custom Milled Rice (CMR) dues remained an arduous task because of the sheer volume of rice involved. Defaulters owed rice stocks worth over Rs 1100 crore to the Corporation. They have been defaulting for the last four seasons. Because the CMR dues, the corporation ended up being projected as an entity in the red.

Stringent measures initiated by the corporation helped in recovery of ten lakh tonnes over the past four to five months. But it has still a long way to go to achieve the desired results. It is making all-out efforts to prevail on defaulting millers and make them mend their ways. Overcoming the operational issues coming in the way of recoveries, the Commissioner Civil Supplies, D S Chouhan has submitted a report to the government proposing 90 days final deadline for the millers to deliver the CMR dues on their own.

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Much of the CMR dues owed to the corporation were for four marketing seasons: Yasangi 2019-20 and 2020-21 and Vanakalam 2021-22 and 2022–23. The corporation was directed to recover the dues in cash or kind at the rate of 125 per cent of the value of CMR fixed by the Center or actual economic cost incurred by the State, whichever was higher, along with interest of 12 per cent per annum.

As part of the recovery process, the Telangana Civil Supplies corporation has initiated criminal proceedings against seven millers topping the list of defaulters on Custom Milled Rice (CMR) so far. Provisions of the Revenue Recovery Act were also invoked against 43 millers as part of its special drive launched for speeding up recoveries.

default on CMR has been a recurring issue since 2019–20. season, with around 362 out of over 3,000 millers defaulting at some point or the other. About 95 per cent of the millers have no issues with the Corporation and continue to qualify for CMR listing.

Some millers have deliberately been adopting evasive tactics, while others have been trying to influence the official machinery only to buy time. Organizations representing the Millers have also made representations to the State government seeking more time for delivery dues. They have sought waiver of penalties too.

A committee constituted by the government, has studied the issues being faced by the millers and made its recommendations. The Civil Supplies commissioner has made his proposal, taking the recommendations into consideration. The millers were extended three months’ time as the last-ditch effort to resolve the issue.

A majority of the defaulters were equipped with large milling capacity. All those figuring in the defaulter list would not merit consideration for custom milling rice, thus adding to the milling and storage issues in the State that have emerged as the largest producer of paddy over the years.