Centre extends deadline for Telangana millers for supply of rice to FCI

The center has extended the deadline for Telangana to supply customized milled rice to the central pool until August 31, after representation from millers.

Deadline extended to August 31 for the 2020-21 Spring season and Fall 2021-22 season. While the 2020-21 Rice was due to be submitted by June 30, the fall rice deadline was July 31. The extension was introduced in the wake of statements from rice millers, who lost about six weeks after the mall stopped being bought by the Food Corporation of India (FCI).

Now, the mills are expected to remove the backlog of 30,000 tons of rice from both seasons.

“No more extension”

The center stopped the purchase after finding serious discrepancies in inventory numbers, along with quality issues. The center was also annoyed with the state government for not distributing rice under PMGKAY (PMGKAY PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana) even after huge amounts were lifted from the central pool.

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has asked the Government of Telangana to comply with the stipulated rules and warned that there will be no further extensions to dispose of the remaining rice.

It asked the state government and the FCI to ensure that the rice was not recycled.

What is recycling

Recycling occurs when unscrupulous agents transport rice distributed through the public distribution system back into purchasing channels. This causes huge losses to the treasury as the perpetrators buy PDS rice at a low price and sell it at a higher price offered by the IFC. “You must ensure that only rice that has been verified during the last physical verification will be submitted to the FCI,” the ministry said in a letter to the Commissioner for Consumer Affairs (Food and Civil Supplies).