Odisha: Rice-mill owners demand hike in milling charge
Owners of rice mills in Odisha's Ganjam district have demanded increase of milling charge from Rs. 10 to Rs. 30 per quintal and release of arrears amounting to around Rs. 5cr before the start of the paddy procurement this year. The paddy procurement is scheduled to start from December 15 in the district. The millers have submitted a memorandum in this reference on Saturday.
GDRMOA submitted memorandum to minister, hopes for resolution
The Ganjam District Rice Mill Owners Association (GDRMOA) secretary, Santosh Sahu said today that they have submitted the memorandum to the state's Food and Consumer Welfare and Cooperative Minister S N Patro in Berhampur on Saturday evening. "We have discussed our problem with the minister and requested him to solve these before the commencement of procurement of paddy this year," he said.
Milling charge of paddy hasn't been revised since last 20yrs
Sahu said the government had provided Rs. 10/ quintal for milling charge of paddy and the rate hasn't been revised since 20 years. "Increase of the milling charge is urgently needed as the electricity tariff changed during the period. Moreover, the transport and labor charges have also increased substantially," Sahu said adding the milling charge should be fixed at Rs. 30/ quintal of paddy.
Millers want transfer of mandi from PACS to them
Since the milling charge is fixed by the Central government, they urged the minister that the state government should take up the matter with the Center, Sahu said, adding that the minister has assured to do so. The rice millers have also sought transfer of mandi (paddy procurement center) handling charge from the primary agriculture cooperative societies (PACS) to the millers.
'Gunny bags supposed to be provided by government, they didn't'
Demanding release of the amount of new gunny bags purchased by the millers in recent years, Sahu said, "The gunny bags are supposed to be provided by the government. As the government didn't provide the gunny bags sometimes, millers purchased these on their own for timely transportation of the commodity." The millers have not got the prices of gunny for last two years.
Security deposits of 53 millers pending with government: GDRMOA
Moreover, the security deposits of 53 millers in the districts, which were pending with the government for the last ten years, should be released immediately, the association demanded. The security deposit of each miller was Rs. 25,000 pending with the government, Sahu said. Last year, as many as 370 millers in the district had participated in the paddy procurement process, sources said.
