Telangana govt steps up recovery of dues from defaulting rice millers
Hyderabad, Aug 12 (TNT): Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday directed officials to intensify recovery of dues from rice millers who defaulted on Custom Milled Rice (CMR) targets and ensure recovery of the full value of paddy supplied to them.
Revanth Reddy, along with Civil Supplies Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy, reviewed the performance of the Civil Supplies Department at the MCRHRD Institute here and directed officials to formulate clear guidelines for recovery of the outstanding dues.
The guidelines would be placed before the Cabinet Sub-Committee for examination, following which the government would take an appropriate decision, he said.
The Chief Minister said the government would adopt a cooperative approach towards millers with genuine business interests, but would deal firmly with those deliberately evading payment of dues.
He alleged that irregularities in recovery of dues during the previous government had resulted in the accumulation of arrears running into thousands of crores of rupees.
Revanth Reddy directed officials to ensure that the value of every grain supplied to rice millers was recovered.
He also said paddy earlier allocated to defaulting millers would be diverted to women’s self-help groups, which would be entrusted with the milling work.
Reviewing paddy storage arrangements, the Chief Minister directed officials to prepare an immediate action plan to overcome recurring storage problems during procurement seasons.
A pilot project for construction of silo bags would be taken up in high-paddy-yield districts, including Nalgonda, Suryapet, Nizamabad, Peddapalli and Kamareddy.
He said 50 to 100 acres would be allocated in each constituency for the silo bag facilities and suggested that they be managed by self-help groups.
Revanth Reddy directed the Revenue, Civil Supplies and Women’s Welfare departments to coordinate and hold a meeting to finalise arrangements for the facilities.
He also suggested exploring the construction of large platforms under the VBG-Ram G scheme and using German tents for paddy storage.
Officials were asked to identify private warehouses, function halls, old cinema theatres and other suitable sheds at mandal and village levels in advance and take them on lease for paddy storage.
Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister V Seshadri, Civil Supplies Commissioner Stephen Ravindra, South India Rice Millers Association President Thudi Devender Reddy and others attended the meeting.
TNT TS
