Rice mills falling on hard times

Power, transport, labour charges go up

Karimnagar: Like other agro-based industries, the rice milling industry is also in a deep crisis in the district. While some of the mills are already closed, more number of industries are on the verge of closure. The situation is pathetic in Sultanabad where the highest number of rice mills are located in both the Telugu speaking States.

As many as 30 mills belonging to Sultanabad, Manakondur and Peddapall were closed and machinery of 15 mills sold. The number of labourers like drivers, hamalis, supervisors, gunny bag repairers and other workers were left jobless following the closure of the rice mills.

Though there are a number of reasons for the present pathetic situation, the increase in the prices of electricity, transportation and labour charges were some of the main reasons for the industry being pushed into a catastrophe.

Compared to the previous years, there is huge jump in the price of current bills, labour and transportation charges, which were vital to run rice mills. But there was no change in the remuneration being paid to rice millers by the State government towards custom milling charges. At present, Rs 15 and Rs 22 were being paid per a quintal of raw and boiled rice respectively.

Apart from these issues, the Minimum Support Price (MSP) is also playing a vital role in staying rice exporters away from state. Not interested to spend huge amounts on procuring rice from the State, they are approaching millers of other states such as Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharastra where there was no MSP for paddy.

Speaking to The Hans India here on Monday, P Muralidhar, owner of Maruthi Industries, Sultanabad, said that the remuneration for custom milling was fixed 20 years ago. There was no change in the payments for custom milling though the prices of all commodities like diesel, electricity and other were hiked hundred times, he opined.

Another rice miller from Sultanabad, Poleti Maruthi said that they had brought the issue to the notice of the State government a number of times in the past, but the successive rulers did not heed to their request. However, he expressed the hope that the present Telangana State government would protect the interests of rice millers.

According to the official figures of the District Rice Millers Welfare Association, there were 536 rice mills including 242 boiled mills in the district out of which, 111 were located in the surroundings of Sultanabad mandal headquarters itself. More than 15 mills were already closed while 80 percent of mills belonging to Sultanabad were in crisis.

Rice millers from the district have pinned their hopes on the Finance and Civil Supplies Minister, Eetala Rajender, who assured the protestors, a few months ago, that he would help them in resolving their crisis. Moreover, Rajender’s candidate Bachu Bhaskar has been elected as the president of district rice millers association in the elections.

All the candidates withdrew from the contest based on the instruction from the Finance Minister, it was leant.

By:Raghu Paithari