Writes letter to Union Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister
Asserts that demands of millers should be met in larger interest of state
Chandigarh, October 1-
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Tuesday sought the kind intervention of Union consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister to accept the genuine demands of the millers.
In a letter to the Union Minister, Bhagwant Singh Mann said that generally FCI receives milled rice by March 31 but during KMS 2023-24, FCI could not provide space for the milled rice and so the delivery period had to be extended upto September 30, 2024. The Chief Minister said that under these circumstances, millers of Punjab are reluctant to lift and store paddy which will be coming to the Mandis during KMS 2024-25. He said that the millers have been emphasising that it is necessary that every month at least 20 lakh MT of rice/wheat is shifted out of Punjab from COVERED STORAGE.
The Chief Minister said that as food godowns all over the country are full and so Government of India will have to come out with some strategic solutions. He said that it is heartening to learn that Union Government has allowed export of rice adding that the Union government should also ask the Consuming States to consider advance lifting of rice for 3-6 months to help FCI to evacuate rice from Punjab. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that though as 120 LMT rice is expected to be delivered in the Central pool in the forthcoming season, so creation of only 90 LMT space till March 31, 2025 would not be sufficient.
Thus, the Chief Minister suggested that certain other measures like sale of rice to Bio-Ethanol Manufacturing Units at subsidized/reasonable price, liberal lifting under OMSS and others are also required to be taken urgently so that 120 LMT space required to complete timely delivery of rice of KMS 2024-25 is created in the State.
He said that Millers had also informed that in the past they were allotted space for delivery of rice within the same milling centre and such centres were usually within 10-20 km of the mills. However, Bhagwant Singh Mann said that last year due to space constraints, the FCI allocated space for delivery of rice to them which in many cases was more than 100 kms but no transportation charges were paid to them for this.
The Chief Minister said that the Millers want to be adequately compensated and reimbursed additional transportation charges in case space is allocated outside their milling centre. Flagging another issue, he said that with the last milling season extending beyond March 31, the millers suffered huge losses on account of driage/weight loss/discoloration of paddy due to hot weather conditions and they also had to incur extra labour and other input costs. Bhagwant Singh Mann asked the Union government to compensate millers in case the milling goes beyond March 31 on account of shortage of the space with the FCI.
The Chief Minister also said that millers have also expressed their concern about Out Turn Ratio (OTR) of hybrid varieties adding that they have requested that scientific studies be conducted to ascertain the actual OTR. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that almost all the demands of the millers are genuine so the Government of India should consider these demands sympathetically and resolve these issues on priority. He reminded the Union Minister that the farmers of the State have been contributing nearly
45-50% of the wheat procured under the Central Pool since last three years and thus have contributed significantly in ensuring the food security of the Nation and maintaining the wheat buffer stocks.
The Chief Minister expressed concern that if the issues of the millers are not resolved on priority, the farmers in the State would face undue hardships in the ensuing paddy procurement season. He said that may lead to unwarranted law and order situations, which we should avoid in this sensitive border State.
