JEYPORE: Expressing concern over the new quality testing regime adopted to ascertain the age of milled rice, Koraput Millers’ Association on Sunday decided to procure only small quantities for custom milling to avoid hassles.
At a meeting, the body decided to take up 600 quintal of paddy to deliver 290 quintal of rice at a time to minimise losses during the kharif season and ensure adherence to deadlines. This came after the Central government asked FCI and State agencies to carry out chemical testing of rice after custom milling under the mixed indicator method to determine the age of milled rice.
As a standard operating procedure, the millers have to submit the milled rice to both FCI and Rice Receiving Centres (RRCs) of the State Civil Supplies Corporation within two months of receiving the paddy from the agencies. The rice then goes through chemical testing after custom milling, with the colour ‘green’ indicating the age within the acceptable limit of 60 days and ‘yellow’ resulting in its rejection, terming the stock as ‘not freshly milled’. The new norms have been set to check recycling of rice by government agencies.
This has not gone down well with the millers who find it unfair since the quality of paddy in the district is not as high as that of the rest of the country due to several factors. “We can’t adhere to the new norms as rice in the tribal region doesn’t go through chemical testing due to its quality differing from the rest of the country and ageing quicker. Hence, we have decided to limit our quota,” said association secretary Gopal Chandra Panda.