Telangana: Discussions with rice millers make no headway

Representatives of the millers associations have presented their demands, and the government is expected to respond soon after considering the financial implications involved

Hyderabad: In a bid to iron out irritants that may impact the paddy procurement operations in the State, the government had discussions with the rice millers for two days on Wednesday and Thursday. But no significant headway could be made so far in resolving the issues.

The representatives of State Rice Millers association and the state Raw Rice Millers Welfare Associations who had separate sittings with the officials of the government and the civil supplies corporation have presented their demands, and the government is expected to respond after taking the financial implications involved into consideration.

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The Telangana State Rice Millers Association has called for comprehensive discussions with the government to address the long-standing challenges faced by rice millers in the custom milling of rice. Amidst delays by the millers, the association leaders have urged the government to allocate paddy for custom milling based on the milling capacity of individual millers. They have proposed that the excess paddy stocks, if any, should be stored in Corporation warehouses until the millers can ensure delivery in installments.

The millers have requested that Grade A rice be procured with a moisture content of not more than 14 percent, enabling them to ensure a 55 to 60 percent rice yield from the paddy stocks allocated to them. They have insisted on an output ratio of 58 percent for Grade A paddy, with millers ready to deliver 58 percent rice along with 9 percent broken rice.

Custodian Maintenance and Insurance

The association has emphasized the need for payment of custodian maintenance for paddy at a rate of Rs 2.40 per quintal per month. While other states provide custodian maintenance for three months a year, the association argued that the State should offer this support for a major part of the year, given the preference for both rabi and kharif seasons. The rice millers also highlighted that custodian maintenance payments have not been made since 2016-17.

They have insisted on insurance coverage for the farmers’ stocks to mitigate risks. Even as Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy indicated allotment of paddy for custom milling on the basis of bank guarantees to be obtained from the millers, the millers association sounded optimistic on an amicable solution to the issue.