HYDERABAD: In a move that is aimed at cracking down on millers defaulting on Custom Milled Rice (CMR), Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday instructed officials to intensify recovery of all dues owed by the millers.
Stating that the government has adopted a cooperative approach towards “millers who operate with a genuine business mindset”, the chief minister warned it would deal sternly with those who deliberately attempt to evade payments. Revanth, along with Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy, held a review meeting with the officials of the Civil Supplies department at Bodhi Pavilion, MCR HRD Institute.
When the officials briefed the chief minister on the progress in recovering the dues, he insisted that the value of every single grain must be recovered.
Further, he instructed officials to formulate specific guidelines for recovering the dues and submit the report to the Cabinet Sub-Committee. The state government would take an appropriate decision following the Cabinet Sub-Committee’s review, he said.
The chief minister announced that the paddy previously allocated to defaulting millers will be allocated to women’s self-help groups and the milling responsibilities will be entrusted to them.
Silo bag facilities for storing paddy
Referring to recurring difficulties in storing paddy stocks every harvest season, the chief minister instructed officials to formulate an action plan immediately. A pilot project for constructing silo bags would be taken up in districts with high paddy yields like Nalgonda, Suryapet, Nizamabad, Peddapalli and Kamareddy, he added.
The chief minister also announced that 50 to 100 acres of land per constituency would be allocated for these silo bag facilities, to be managed by self-help groups (SHGs). A meeting would be convened with the ministers of Revenue, Civil Supplies and Women’s Welfare to discuss the construction of these facilities, he said.
He also suggested that the officials explore the possibility of constructing spacious platforms under the VB-G RAM G scheme and using German tents for paddy storage. The officials were also instructed to identify private warehouses, function halls, old cinema theatres and other sheds at mandal and village levels in advance and lease them for paddy storage.