Members of the Koraput Millers Association have demanded intervention of the district administration into alleged forcible procurement of paddy from different mandis by Government agencies without quality test. They said as per Government guidelines, the farmers should provide fine average quality (FAQ) variety paddy to Government procurement agencies against the fair price of `1310 per quintal. Notwithstanding the guidelines, some middlemen in connivance with political leaders have dumped low quality paddy and are demanding fair price which has resulted in disturbances in the procurement process.
The district administration has also been pressuring millers to accept the paddy stock and generate rice. Upset, the millers have expressed their inability to generate FAQ variety rice from the poor quality paddy procured.
“In the process, millers are being harassed and forced to collect the substandard paddy from mandis,” said the Association secretary Gopal Panda. In Jeypore sub-division, 32 mandis are operating and about three lakh quintals of paddy have been procured by Government agencies and delivered to millers. Around 1.5 lakh quintals of paddy procured was not tested properly to maintain FAQ standard in the mandis at Phampuni, Dangapanunsi, Lima, Kumuli and Kamata villages.