Jeypore: There is no proper storage facility in the godowns. Paddy procured during the Kharif season is still stored in the mills. If paddy is lifted from the market in the coming days, where will it be stored? Therefore, millers will not lift paddy from the current Rabi market. Permission should be given to lift paddy only for mills from other districts. The District Rice Millers Association has informed the district administration about this in writing.
The association officials said that last Kharif, the supply department had a target to procure 25,72,880 quintals of paddy from Koraput district. During the procurement period, 25,09,765 quintals were actually procured. This paddy was lifted by 95 mills in the district. After milling, 16,80,231 quintals of rice were supposed to be returned.
Due to various problems, until the 11th of this month, the supply department has received only 91,778 quintals of rice, which is just 6 percent of the expected amount. Balka block has failed to take 94 percent of the rice. Because of this, every mill in the district still has paddy stored in it.
FCI godowns are full and are not accepting any more rice. There is no space in the supply department godowns either. The association has repeatedly requested the supply department to take steps to lift rice but no action has been taken so far.
In this situation, if paddy is lifted from the Rabi market, it will create problems. Keeping this in mind, the association has decided that they will not lift paddy from the upcoming Rabi market.