NALGONDA: The state government is believed to have suffered around Rs 1,300 crore loss since 2013-14 due to the negligence of the Civil Supplies authorities in claiming the transportation costs it incurred in supplying the purchased paddy to the Food Corporation of India (FCI).
At the end of every Rabi and Kharif season, the state government, through the civil supplies and marketing departments, sets up paddy purchasing centres and buys grains from the farmers by paying MSP. The purchased paddy is then delivered to rice mills in lorries after calling for tenders for paddy transportation.
The Civil Supplies Corporation first pays transportation charges to contractors and then sends the bills to FCI for reimbursement.
According to sources, this process went on smoothly till 2012-13. But after that, the repayments by the FCI have stopped due to non-submission of transportation bills. This is being attributed to the negligence of civil supplies, state and district authorities and lack of proper monitoring.
After the Congress formed the government, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy turned his attention to getting all the arrears pending with various entities released as part of the measures to tackle the financial crisis. As part of this process, the civil supplies officials are trying to get the reimbursement from the FCI.
State Civil Supplies Corporation Commissioner DS Chauhan, during a teleconference held on Friday, instructed the DSOs and other officials concerned to collect and send all other details for this purpose.
In Nalgonda district alone, the Civil Supplies Corporation has spent around Rs 128 crore for transportation of purchased grains.
The commissioner has asked the officials to send all the details related to transportation bills from 2013-14 to 2022-23. Since several officials have been transferred during these 10 years, it will be difficult to find all the records unless they are in digital format.
Difficult to find records
State Civil Supplies Corporation Commissioner DS Chauhan has asked the officials to send all the details from 2013-14. Since several officials have been transferred during these 10 years, it will be difficult to find all the records.