4.5 lakh rice bags missing: Centre game for CBI probe

To attack TRS, Kishan seizes upon letter sent by Revanth pointing out that FCI’s random physical verification had revealed a ‘paddy scam’
Representational image of paddy.
Representational image of paddy.

HYDERABAD: Even as the dust seems to have settled in a tit-for-tat war between the State and the Centre over the issue of paddy procurement, the focus now slowly shifting towards the rice millers. Recently, TPCC president A Revanth Reddy wrote a letter to Union Minister for Tourism and Culture G Kishan Reddy, demanding a CBI inquiry into an alleged “paddy scam” perpetrated by rice millers after the Food Corporation of India, during its random physical verification, had found that 4,53,896 bags of rice weighing 40 kg each, went missing from 40 rice mills in the State. He had also complained to Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan over the issue.

In response to the Congress leader’s letter, Kishan Reddy on Wednesday said that the Centre would provide assistance if the State government seeks a CBI inquiry. However, the Centre cannot directly intervene as it has no jurisdictional control over the rice mills with which State government has agreements, he said.

Speaking to the media in New Delhi, he said: “The Centre has an agreement with the State government on paddy procurement. Similarly, the State government has agreements with the rice millers. It is the State government which should initiate action against the erring rice millers.”He said that the FCI has already informed the State government about the issue and sought to know what led to such a huge discrepancy in stocks.The FCI also informed that the Centre would write a letter to the State government, seeking action against the rice millers concerned and to submit an action taken report.

Bid to malign TS: Gangula

Meanwhile, Civil Supplies Minister Gangula Kamalakar rubbished Kishan Reddy’s comments as a deliberate attempt to malign the State government, which he said has become a compulsive political strategy of the BJP. He said that he would counter Kishan’s allegations on Thursday.Millers, who are being stereotyped as those who siphon off huge quantities of rice, feel that though action needs to be taken against those responsible, there was no reason to put the entire industry in the dock.

“It’s true that some rice millers may have sold the stock because of delay in receiving pa-yments from the government for their services, so that they can meet their operational costs. Due to slow movement of stocks deliverable to FCI, stocks have been piling up. Due to rains in February they got wet and stocks were damaged. But the FCI has only been looking at all of us like thieves just because three to four per cent of millers have done wrong,” said Thota Sampath Warangal Rice Millers’ Association president.

Devender Reddy, the State leader of rice millers, opines that some millers certainly needed to be brought to book. However, he also stresses the need for the Centre (FCI) to try and clear whatever stock was being offered. Observing that there were rice stocks worth Rs 9,000 crore lying in rice mills, he said that “when the millers request FCI to take verification of stocks, they should do it and not say that they can’t”. Express has credible information about rice millers who have been blacklisted in the erstwhile Mahabubnagar district during last Rabi but they are now being permitted to custom mill rice this season.

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