Centre allows FCI to restart rice procurement from Telangana

NEW DELHI: In a significant development, the Centre on Wednesday took a crucial decision to end the stalemate on the purchase of yasangi (rabi season) rice from Telangana. The Union government gave a go-ahead to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to restart the rice procurement from the state.

Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Kishan Reddy, while speaking to the media here, announced the Centre's measure, which is certain to provide relief to the farming community in the state. Acknowledging the fact that the farmers of Telangana had been suffering heavily due to the delay in the rice procurement from the state, they said that directions were given to the FCI to procure the rice stock.

The two ministers criticized the TRS government, stating that it was politicizing the rice procurement issue by stopping PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana Scheme from April this year even though the Centre was supplying Rs.5 a kg free rice to every ration cardholder.

The rice procurement was halted in the June first week. This resulted in close to 94 lakh tonnes of paddy getting stuck with 3,300 rice millers in Telangana.

The Food and PDS Ministry said that custom milling was halted owing to certain flaws in physical verification like shortage of 4.53 lakh bags of rice in 40 mills.

The Centre alleged that another 1.37 lakh bags were found missing in 63 mills. This rice was from the kharif (VanaKalam) produce of (2020-21 and 2021-2022). The physical verification, however, could not be taken up because 503 mills did not store paddy in countable position. 

However, the Civil Supplies Commissioner of Telangana had submitted that the stocks would be kept in a countable position with book keeping adhering to standard operating procedures. 

There was uncertainty over the huge stock of paddy in Telangana since the time the Centre suspended its procurement almost five weeks ago. This led to a standoff and a blame game between the state government and Union government.