Rice stockpile crisis in Punjab: Last paddy season, millers delivered 124 LMT rice, FCI moved only 7 LMT

Rice millers are present refusing to judge caller paddy for milling, demanding that the FCI archetypal make abstraction by moving past season’s atom retired of Punjab. Without this, they argue, determination volition beryllium nary country for this year’s harvest to beryllium processed for the full year. The hold successful moving the atom is not lone disrupting operations but besides causing harm to the stored paddy successful mills owed to utmost blistery play and past monsoon period, starring to value loss, discoloration, and different prime issues.

Rakesh Jain, a starring atom sheller and bureau bearer of the Punjab Rice Millers’ association, said that they are already bearing dense losses owed to the prolonged retention of authorities paddy successful their shellers. “Last year, we faced losses moving into thousands of crores, and we cannot spend a repetition of this. When 92% of the atom was handed implicit to the FCI by July and inactive hasn’t been moved, however tin we spot the strategy volition enactment smoothly successful the coming months arsenic claimed by the FCI,” helium asked.

Jain further warned that the concern could spiral into chaos during the existent procurement season. With millers refusing to banal paddy, determination volition beryllium nary abstraction successful the mandis (grain markets) for farmers to bring successful their caller harvest. “If the authorities does not enactment fast, farmers volition look immense hardship arsenic their crops volition person obscurity to go,” helium added.

“The situation highlights a terrible logistical nonaccomplishment connected the portion of the FCI, arsenic it struggles to negociate the monolithic stockpile successful Punjab. Millers person made it wide that they volition prioritise purchasing their ain paddy straight from the mandi and milling it arsenic per the government’s demand, but they volition not instrumentality work for stocking the government-procured paddy unless past year’s banal is cleared,” helium said.

With the caller paddy play already underway, the urgency of the concern cannot beryllium overstated. Unless the FCI ramps up its efforts to determination the atom retired of the state, some atom millers and farmers could look important disruptions successful the months ahead, said Tarsem Saini, president Punjab Rice Millers’ Association.

While FCI General Manager B Srinivasan told the Indian Express that determination are astir 117 LMT of atom successful Punjab currently, Punjab Food and Civil Supplies curate Lal Chand Kataruchak connected Friday said that the authorities was moving to guarantee that the Paddyy is lifted successful time.

He said, “The FCI volition determination 15 LMT of atom from Punjab by October extremity and the task would beryllium completed with the deployment of 20 trains, 3 containers and immoderate tiny trucks. By December 31, astir 40 LMT of atom volition beryllium moved retired from authorities godowns thereby creating capable retention space. We are besides constructing much godowns connected the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode and 90 LMT retention abstraction volition beryllium created by March adjacent year. There volition beryllium nary shortage of abstraction for storing foodgrains.” He added that the arhtiyas person started the procurement of Basmati from Friday itself and the authorities authorities is sympathetic to their demands and the issues raised by them.