HYDERABAD: In what can be termed as a daylight robbery, the rice millers and middlemen are cheating the farmers by paying less than the minimum support price (MSP) to their produce at various mills in Miryalaguda of Nalgonda district.
TNIE has accessed a few bills which show that the millers paid only Rs 1,800 and Rs 1,950 per quintal of paddy for farmers as against the MSP of Rs 2,060 per quintal, all due to the alleged official apathy.
As the paddy production has surpassed over one crore lakh metric tonnes in the State, the government is also encouraging the private operators to procure rice from farmers. However, there is a visible lapse in curbing this unfortunate trend and ensuring at least MSP is paid for the farmers.
Given the fact that Miryalaguda has the highest number of rice mills, almost all the farmers in the region are cultivating what the millers procure. As a result, they playing into the hands of the unscrupulous millers, who are now deciding the price of paddy as the government officials continue to ignore the issue. This phenomenon is leading to farmers suffering huge losses while the rice millers amass huge “unaccounted” wealth.
Speaking to TNIE, G Nagender, a farmer from Takkellapadu village of Nalgonda district, said that he was initially offered Rs 1,860 per quintal of paddy by Sai Teja Rice Mill located near Miryalaguda on Sunday. However, when he took up the issue with a TRS legislator, the latter ensured that he got Rs 1,990 by Satya Food Products.“The rice millers formed a syndicate and they are deciding the price. When we demand the MSP, the rice millers are challenging us and asking us if can get MSP in any of other mill,” he said.
Even though there is a demand for a fine variety of rice, which is referred as HMT or Chintlu locally, the rice millers are encashing the situation as the farmers are in a hurry to sell their produce. The farmers said that the fine variety of foodgrains was sold at Rs 2,300 to Rs 2,500 for quintal just a few days ago. However, as a majority of farmers harvest the crops at the same time and heavy loads are piling up at the private procurement centres, the rice millers quote their own price, coercing the farmers to accept whatever is offered to them.
Delay in payments
Mamidala Kanakaiah, a farmer from Kistapur village, said that he was offered around Rs 1,900 per quintal to his 46 quintals. He said that the rice millers are reducing the price in the name of depreciation of foodgrains, discolour, and moisture content. He also said that the farmers are made to wait for nearly a month to get the money from the private operators. “Though we raised this issue, the local elected representatives are not all concerned and they are ignoring out pleas”, he lamented.
When contacted, Miryalaguda Rice Millers Association president Gouru Srinivas refuted the allegations that are colluding with each other to trouble the farmers. “The farmers are bringing the paddy, immediately after harvesting, with a moisture content of over 27 per cent. When we dry the paddy, there will be a depreciation of about 12 kgs for every quintal. Thus, the cost of paddy would escalate to Rs 2,500, which has to be borne by the miller,” he said.
The farmers, however, rejected these claims, stating that it was the rice millers who wanted the paddy with moisture content as they want convert it to parboiled rice. Meanwhile, when contacted the district Civil Supplies officer V Venkateshwarlu said that he was not aware of farmers of being paid less than MSP but assured that he would take up the issue with higher authorities. The attempts by TNIE to reach Civil Supplies Commissioner V Anil Kumar proved unsuccessful.