Karnataka

FCI asked to settle rice mill owners’ dues

Tussle over levy: The meeting between rice mill owners and officials in progress in Davangere on Friday.

DAVANGERE: Deputy Commissioner K. Amaranarayana has instructed the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to make online payments to rice mill owners soon after they supply levy rice to the FCI. He has warned FCI that he will not tolerate any complaints of delay in payments.

At a special meeting here on Friday, the mill owners said their money had been held at up FCI, and that some officials were seeking a cut for release of the amounts. The Deputy Commissioner instructed the FCI to settle their dues immediately, preferably online. He asked all the rice mill owners, on their part, to have accounts in nationalised banks that had core banking facilities.

Rameshwarappa, Deputy Director of Food and Civil Supplies, said 33.3 per cent levy had been fixed for this kharif season, based on the production of rice mills during the past year. He instructed all rice mill owners to give 33.3 per cent of their production to FCI as levy.

The mill owners said it was difficult to give 33.3 per cent this year owing to the floods which resulted in a substantial decrease in rice production in the district. The Deputy Commissioner and the Deputy Director told them that they had studied all the facts threadbare while fixing the levy. The mill owners, however, said they planned to approach the Government to reduce the levy.

Mr. Amaranarayana said they were free to meet the Chief Minister in this regard, but insisted that they stick to the levy for the time being. The rice given as levy would be used to help poor people, he said and added that the mill owners had a social obligation too. The Government would purchase the levy rice from mill owners at Rs. 1,481 a quintal.

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