Shaky start to paddy procurement in state

Thursday, 04/10/2012

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20121004/punjab.htm#1

Chandigarh : Two days into the paddy procurement season, the state government agencies are yet to kick-start the mammoth procurement process in the state. While farmers have started bringing their produce to the grain markets, the government agencies have failed to start the procurement of paddy.

The procurement staff of Punjab Agro Industries Corporation, Pungrain, Punjab Food and Civil Supplies, Punjab Mandi Board and Punjab Warehousing Corporation has refused to initiate the process till they are absolved of the responsibility for losses incurred due to the storage of paddy in private mills by the government.

Of the 45,000 tonne paddy that has arrived in the grain markets across the state so far, the government agencies (mainly the central food agency - Food Corporation of India) have purchased only 300 tonne.

The remaining paddy has either been lying in the grain markets or sold to private millers.

The staff in the state government agencies wants the government to absolve them of the responsibility of being joint custodians of paddy stored in rice shellers, along with private sheller owners.

Bhupinder Singh, president, Joint Punjab Food Grain Employees Coordination Committee, said the employees of the procurement agencies had been at the receiving end, with cases slapped against them and the employees losing retirement benefits in case the paddy stored in the mill was pilfered.

“The millers are siphoning off paddy and over 650 employees are bearing the brunt,” he alleged.

Arhtiyas’ offer
The Arhtiya Association, Punjab, has offered to store the paddy arriving in the market till the time the issue is resolved.

Ravinder Cheema, president of the association, said the commission agents were willing to get the paddy packed in gunny bags till the time the state government agencies started the procurement process.

He said paddy arrival had begun in Ferozepur, Tarn Taran, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Gurdaspur, Ropar and Mohali.

Millers aggrieved
The rice millers, too, are on the warpath with the state government over its new paddy policy, which makes it mandatory for the millers to give a bank guarantee to the state government for storing their paddy.

They have refused to allow storage of paddy in their units till the stipulation of bank guarantee is removed.

Owing to the shortage of storage space, the state procurement agencies directly store paddy in rice shellers, where custom milling of paddy is done.

But due to slow lifting of paddy stored in shellers, many rice sheller owners have allegedly connived with procurement agency staff and siphoned off the produce.

Millers said the government had raised the amount of bank guarantee from Rs 1.50 lakh to a minimum of Rs 30 lakh (and more based on the milling capacity of the unit).

A rice sheller owner in Macchiwara said it would lead to massive capital investment by a rice sheller owner.

Another rice sheller owner in Amritsar rued the fact that the government wanted them to pay for storing paddy in their units, but was not willing to lift the paddy from their shellers.

Around 1.90 lakh tonne paddy purchased by the state government agencies in 2009-10, 1.80 lakh tonne purchased in 2010-11 and almost the entire paddy purchased last year is lying in the shellers across the state.

THE CONTENTION
Procurement staff: Must not be held responsible for losses incurred due to the storage of paddy in private mills

Rice millers: Won’t allow storage of paddy in mills till the stipulation of bank guarantee is removed

Arhtiyas: Willing to store the paddy arriving in the market till the time the issue is resolved