JEYPORE: The Koraput District Rice Millers’ Association on Saturday wrote to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, challenging the rejection of custom milled rice supplied to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) during the kharif marketing season 2022–23.
In a letter, association secretary Gopal Panda said the FCI had initially accepted the stocks after verifying quality reports issued by government-recognised laboratories. However, four to five months later, a central technical team collected samples in the absence of the millers, following which the Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare department directed them to replace the stocks within seven days.
Seeking details of the technical findings through an RTI application, the association said the FCI informed it that the laboratory report concerned was not available with the corporation. Questioning the legal basis for the rejection, the millers asked how the stocks could be rejected in the absence of a formal laboratory report on record.
As the matter is currently pending before the Orissa High Court, the association has sought the ministry’s intervention to verify the relevant administrative records. Copies of the representation have also been sent to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and the Food Supplies department.