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Centre restores Rice Procurement operations in Telangana
Centre is committed and concerned about the poor and the farmers not getting their due: Shri Goyal
Centre aims to ensure that no poor are deprived of their right and get their full entitlement: Shri Goyal
By PIB Delhi
The Centre has decided to restore Rice Procurement operations in Central pool (by FCI & by State under DCP) in Telangana, informed Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Commerce and Industry and Textiles while addressing media persons here.
Shri Goyal criticized the Telangana government, stating that the state government did not distribute rations to the poor in the month of April and May under Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY) despite repeated reminders from the Centre.
He reiterated that Centre is committed and concerned for the poor and the farmers. Shri Goyal added that through PMGKAY, the central government wants to ensure that no poor person is deprived of their right and gets their full entitlement. “The Government of Telangana has already lifted a considerable quantity (1.90 LMT) from DCP stocks against April and May 2022 months, but the same has not been distributed thus depriving benefits to the beneficiaries of the Central Scheme,” the Minister added.
He also shared the observations made by the Central Team during the Physical Verification (PV) of Paddy. He said that on 31.03.2022, a list of defaulter millers where shortages had been noticed was communicated to the Telangana State Government to take immediate strict action as 4,53,896 bags were found short of 40 mills. Again on 21.05.2022, other observations were communicated to the State: shortages of a total of 1,37,872 bags were noticed in 63 mills i.e. 12 mills of KMS 2020-21 (Rabi) and 51 mills of KMS 2021-22 (Kharif) and iIn 593 mills i.e. 101 mills of KMS 2020-21 (Rabi) and 492 mills of KMS 2021-22 (Kharif), the paddy was not stored in countable position due to which the PV of paddy stocks could not be completed.
Pertinently, the Commissioner of Civil Supplies & Ex. Office Secretary, Government of Telangana vide letter dated 04.10.2021 had assured that “To overcome the impediments experienced during Physical Verification (PV) of Paddy/rice during KMS 2020-21, State would ensure that the stocks are always kept in a countable position along with proper book-keeping and Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) for the same will be followed”. However, to date, no concrete strict action has been taken by the State Government against defaulter millers where shortages have been noticed.
Shri Goyal informed that Telangana needed 36 crore liters of additional annual capacity for ethanol blending to go up to 20%. But the state government did not process it. He said that the processing of the ethanol could have helped farmers, generated jobs for youths, and also would have brought investment. It would have also helped in reducing the import of petroleum and thereby saved foreign exchange.
Shri Goyal urged the Telangana government to keep the promises made to the poor to ensure the entitlement reaches the beneficiaries.
Telangana State has adopted a Decentralised system of Procurement wherein the State Government procures paddy on behalf of Govt. of India. Paddy is procured by the State through its agencies from farmers. The resultant rice, after milling, is retained by the State for its own consumption under NFSA/ OWS and only surplus rice stock is delivered to FCI under Central Pool. All the expenditure for procurement and distribution for central schemes is borne by the Govt. of India.
As a procedure, physical verification of paddy stocks was conducted by the joint teams of the State Government and FCI to ascertain the availability of paddy and rice as per the declaration given by the State government. During the physical verification, paddy stocks were found short in various mills. Accordingly, the State Government was requested to initiate action on the defaulter millers where the paddy was found short during the PV exercises. However, no concrete action was initiated by the State Government until the month of June.
The Civil Supplies department of the Government of Telangana had lifted Raw Rice for distribution under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) Phase–VI scheme starting from April 2022, where free food grain is being provided by Govt. of India to mitigate the hardships faced by the public due to Covid-19 pandemic, however, the same was not distributed among the beneficiaries till the start of the month of June. Further, the State Government was also not taking proactive action in processing applications for the establishment of distilleries in the State, for the manufacturing of ethanol.
Due to inaction on the part of the State Government on the above issues, it was decided to stop the delivery of Rice in Central Pool with effect from the 7th of June in Telangana until the initiation of any concrete action by the State Government.
The Govt. of Telangana has now informed that they have initiated action against the defaulter millers and requisite action will be completed against all the defaulter millers. Further, Chief Secretary Telangana has intimated that the distribution of Raw Rice under the PMGKAY Phase–VI scheme has been started and assured of distributing the entire allocated quantity along with NFSA. Further, the State Government has taken steps by issuing instructions to process the applications received for the establishment of distilleries for manufacturing ethanol.
In view of the assurances and follow-up action by the State Govt and in order to safeguard the interest of the farmers and milling industry, the Government of India has now restored the delivery of Rice under the Central Pool. Govt. of India is always dedicated to protecting the interest of the farmers and is fully committed to their welfare. State Govt. is also advised to fulfill the assurances in true spirit on the above issues which concern the interest of the farmers and the milling industry.
