Paddy glut in mandis as millers refuse to relent
Thursday, 11/10/2012
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20121011/punjab.htm#5
Moga : A sizable section of rice millers have refused to lift the paddy procured by the state-owned agencies even as the Punjab Government has stepped up efforts to resolve the issue. The rice millers are at loggerheads with the government over the new milling policy, which has made it mandatory for them to give a bank guarantee or a security of Rs 30 lakh against the stock stored in their mills.
There are two groups of rice millers, each led by Rakesh Jain of Jalandhar and Tarsem Singh Saini hailing from Patiala. Though rice millers having affiliation with the Saini group have started lifting the paddy, those with the Jain group are adamant on their demand. Rakesh Jain said: “We are against the new policy. We will not lift paddy unless the government makes an amendment to it”.
“Why should we give a bank guarantee or security? We are providing space to the agencies to store their paddy. We do not even charge any rent from them,” Jain said.
He said: “The state-owned agencies can store the produce in their own storehouses. We will deliver rice in advance by milling the paddy purchased by us as per the FCI policy”.
Jain has called a meeting of his association at Mullanpur on Thursday to chalk out a strategy after the Saini group allegedly patched up with the government and began lifting paddy. A senior official of the Food and Civil Supplies Department said 9,53,084 tonnes of paddy was procured across the state, but not even 10 per cent of it was lifted for storage in rice mills.
In Khanna, the largest grain market of the state, out of 18,924 lakh tones, as much as 7,160 tonnes have been procured by private players and the remaining by government agencies. The grain procured by the government agencies is yet to be lifted. In Muktsar, out of 1,07,067 tonnes of paddy arrival, 48,237 tonnes have been procured while 23,640 tonnes have been lifted and the remaining is lying in the markets.
