BARGARH: The All Odisha Rice Millers’ Association (AORMA) has announced to stop operations starting Monday owing to the state government’s failure to fulfil its assurances by the January 3 deadline which it had made to the association during a meeting over a month back.
The announcement comes following an official communication sent by the AORMA to Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare minister Krushna Chandra Patra on January 1, in which it had sought immediate execution of assurances made during meetings held on November 29 and December 1.
During the meetings on November 29 and December 1, the association had sought payment of custody and maintenance charges for KMS 2023-24 and 2024-25, additional incentives for custom milling, revision of transportation charges for the third slab beyond 40 km and restoration of driage to one per cent for raw milling. “However, over five weeks have passed since those meetings but no formal government order has been issued so far,” the millers said.
As per the letter, AORMA stated that from Monday onwards, rice millers will stop transporting paddy beyond a 40-km radius and will no longer keep procured paddy in their own custody. “Paddy will henceforth be lifted only in proportion to the quantity of custom-milled rice (CMR) delivered, shifting the responsibility of storage to the procurement agency,” the letter stated.
The association pointed out that millers had executed agreements and resumed lifting paddy only after receiving verbal assurances from the government, which remain undocumented and unimplemented. “Bills submitted towards custody and maintenance charges are being returned or declined by the Odisha State Civil Supplies Corporation (OSCSC) on technical grounds, even as dues for kharif marketing season 2023-24 remain unpaid for over 14 months,” they rued.
The email was marked to chief secretary Anu Garg, principal secretary to the chief minister Saswata Mishra, principal secretary, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare department Sanjay Kumar Singh and the managing director of OSCSC seeking their intervention.
The announcement is likely to further disrupt the already delayed kharif paddy procurement process in several districts, particularly western Odisha, which is facing farmers’ protest in this connection.