Rice millers accuse govt of harassment, arm-twisting

Bhupalapally: The District Rice Millers Association staged a maha dharna against arm-twisting and harassment of rice millers in the name of raids by officials on the pretext of recovering CMR dues.

The dharna was held to draw the state government’s attention to long-pending issues affecting the sector.

It said rice millers were facing pressure from administrative delays, rising operating costs, surprise inspections and unresolved CMR issues.

District Rice Millers Association president Perumalla Tirupati Goud and honourary president Kore Ravi urged the government to recognize actual milling losses instead of blaming rice millers.

They questioned how fair it is to portray all millers as defaulters while ignoring the real problems the industry faces. Speaking at the event, they said that of the 9.70 crore metric tonnes of paddy allocated to millers over the past decade, the quantity in default was less than 2 percent.

They argued it is wrong to single out a small percentage of defaulters and condemn the entire rice-milling industry. With warehouse space running short and stocks piling up in mills, they demanded that the remaining paddy from the 2025–26 Rabi season be auctioned immediately to resolve the problem.

They also asked for permission to convert the additionally allocated 12 lakh metric tonnes of paddy into boiled rice. They explained that actual milling losses of 18–20 percent occur due to factors such as recovery issues, high broken rice, untimely rains, moisture loss, and natural deterioration of grain quality etc.

They said it is unjust to impose arrears and defaults on millers without recording these physical losses in inspections. They demanded that the government clarify the status of the extra 12 lakh metric tonnes of paddy.

They called for an immediate stop to sudden task force raids, disclosure of the scientific basis for claimed milling losses, and publication of the milling test reports conducted by the CCI. They said rice millers cooperated in procuring 154 lakh metric tonnes of paddy in 2025–26 for the benefit of farmers and assured full support to the government in delivering PDS rice.

Instead of blaming millers, they urged the government to provide permanent solutions to the industry’s problems, implement a dynamic crop policy aligned with harvest seasons, and resolve pending crop issues from 2014–25 without interest or penalties.

Association secretary Yanam Santosh, treasurer Ravinder Reddy, and district rice millers participated in the programme.

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