Telangana govt turns heat on errant rice millers

HYDERABAD: Taking advantage of loopholes in the guidelines, over 1,500 rice millers in the state have defaulted on providing custom milled rice (CMR) to the govt and evaded penalties over the years, without facing any punishment.
But with the civil supplies department clamping down on the errant millers by banning property transactions and also bringing their immovable properties under the Revenue Recovery (RR) Act, the defaulters are at their wits' end now.

The department recently asked collectors and sub-registrars to immediately stop property transactions of errant millers for failing to give custom milled rice to the govt.
The civil supplies authorities also sought the help of registration department as some millers were allegedly trying to either transfer their properties in their family members, relatives' names or benamis or sell them after the RR Act was invoked against them.
'Some diverted paddy to other states'
The department got wind of this recently when a miller in erstwhile Nalgonda district allegedly tried to sell his properties after defaulting on providing Rs 90 crore worth of rice to the govt. Senior IPS officer DS Chauhan, who was appointed as commissioner of civil supplies and principal secretary of the department six months ago, not only started cracking the whip on the default millers but also brought in changes in procurement and delivery of CMR.
"Most of the rice millers are abiding by the rules and handing over CMR to the govt as per the agreement. We have also initiated reforms in the allocation methods and brought in transparency," Chauhan told STOI on Saturday. CM A Revanth Reddy has already directed the civil supplies department to not to spare any miller for causing loss to the govt.
Previously, the department was able to attach only movable properties like car, tractor, etc., which could be sold or shifted easily by the defaulters. Thanks to the amendments made in the guidelines, both movable and immovable properties have been brought under the RR Act, an official said.
Senior officials said they have invoked the Act against 116 millers for not paying the penalty along with CMR for several years despite several reminders. As many as 1,532 millers have defaulted on supplying Rs 3,905 crore worth CMR to the govt since 2019-20. Though some recoveries were made, the govt is still to get Rs 2,200 crore worth CMR, an official said.
Some millers were not delivering CMR within the time and diverting the paddy to other states, officials said. "The civil supplies department is invoking RR Act against such defaulters besides taking criminal action," an official said. It was alleged that paddy allotment in the previous BRS govt was done without considering the mill capacity and track record of millers. Civil supplies commissioner DS Chauhan said paddy allotment was not made to repeat defaulters. If a miller is a first-time defaulter (not more than one season), the govt cleared a minimum of 100% (with penalty, it is 125%) of their dues against the defaulted CMR pertaining to previous seasons since 2019. For the balance 25%, the millers will have to give bank guarantee for allotment of paddy this season, he said.