Telangana minister pulls up officials for delay in delivering rice to FCI
HYDERABAD: Expressing serious concern over the delay in delivery of custom-milled rice (CMR) and its poor quality, Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Monday directed officials to streamline the process and send the rice to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) by January 31 deadline.
The minister warned the officials that frequent delays and inability to deliver the prescribed quantity and quality of CMR to the FCI would have serious consequences on future allocations to Telangana.
He held a video conference with the top officials, including Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari, on CMR rice.
During the review meeting, the minister reprimanded the officials while referring to the complaints made by the Union government officials on the “under-performance of Telangana on CMR deliveries”.
He emphasised the need for the Civil Supplies Corporation to supply 7.83 LMT of rice for Vanakalam (Kharif) by January 31 and 35 LMT of rice for the Yasangi (Rabi) season.
“To achieve this goal, the millers need to deliver around 42 LMT of rice in the coming weeks, a commitment currently facing a significant deficit,” the Minister said.
Highlighting that the Civil Supplies Corporation’s substantial loans that were taken to procure paddy from farmers and delivered it to millers, Uttam said that recovering this investment depends on millers delivering rice to the FCI in the required quantity and quality.
“Such delays in delivering the CMR has caused significant losses for the corporation, which is now burdened with over Rs 58,000 crore debt and Rs 11,000 crore losses in the last nine to 10 years. Additionally, it bears an annual interest burden of nearly Rs 3,000 crore,” Uttam said.
Terming PDS rice as “sacred”, he stressed its importance in reaching the poor and preventing “illegal commercialisation”. He mentioned reports of some millers recycling PDS rice for export at higher prices and directed to take severe action against such offenders. He also directed officials to look into the complaints of ration dealers regarding the shortage of around four to five kg of rice in each bag.