Rice mills remained closed across Mancherial, Karimnagar, Nirmal, Nizamabad

Rice mills across Telangana remained closed on Saturday as millers protested against inspections, penalties and issues related to Custom Milled Rice. They sought relief from the 25 per cent penalty, timely processing payments and relaxation in CMR acceptance and storage requirements

Mancherial/Karimnagar: As part of a statewide protest, rice mills remained closed on Saturday, with millers seeking government action on their list of demands.

Raw and Boiled Rice Millers’ Welfare Association district president Chiluveru Vaikuntam said millers were incurring losses due to fines imposed for failing to show grains under the Custom Milled Rice (CMR) process. He said the government was harassing them by conducting inspections by the Vigilance and Enforcement Department at mills to check stocks of rice and paddy.

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The mill owners lamented that the government was projecting them as wrongdoers. They also objected to the recovery of CMR, which they said was causing losses. They said the government was delaying payment of processing charges and charges for drying the grains. They demanded that the 25 per cent penalty imposed for defaults be lifted.

The millers regretted that they had brought their challenges to the government’s attention, but their issues had not been addressed so far. They said the Food Corporation of India (FCI) was over-scrutinising the grains on quality grounds. They urged the government to provide relaxation in the acceptance of CMR from millers and sought space for storing milled rice.

They declared that they would not reopen the mills until the government resolved their issues. Mancherial district has 28 rice mills, of which 22 have been booked for defaulting on CMR obligations.

Meanwhile, rice mills suspended operations across the erstwhile Karimnagar, Nirmal and Nizamabad districts, urging the government to immediately stop inspections, penalties and address their other demands.