Remove cap on parboiled rice: Odisha authorities urges Centre

By Express News Service
BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha authorities on Tuesday sought the intervention of the Centre to take away the cap on supply of parboiled rice to Food Corporation of India (FCI). Also expressing concern over the massive meals subsidy invoice pending with the FCI , the federal government additional requested for early launch of Rs 6,039 crore that’s because of the State.

In a letter to Union Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister Piyush Goyal, State Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain mentioned, “Odisha is primarily a parboiled rice consuming State with consumption around 24 lakh tonne. The estimated surplus that needs to be evacuated by FCI here in the current kharif marketing season will be 30 lakh tonne.”

Drawing Goyal’s consideration to the  latest communication of FCI asking the State to restrict the supply of surplus parboiled rice to 50 per cent of the amount delivered final yr and its refusal to just accept parboiled rice throughout rabi season, Swain mentioned this isn’t acceptable as solely six out of 30 districts of the State eat uncooked rice. This instruction of FCI can have far reaching affect on Odisha, he mentioned.

Meanwhile, BJP State common secretary Lekhashree Samansinghar mentioned the State authorities is extra apprehensive for millers than the farmers. She mentioned the BJD is attempting to offer an image that the continuing paddy procurement will likely be hit and the farmers will likely be affected if the Centre didn’t rescind the FCI letter forthwith. “In reality, the government is worried for the rice millers. The parboiled rice weighs more than raw rice and millers earn more profit by selling paddy chaff (rice husk) which is now high in demand by the oil industry for production of rice bran oil,” she mentioned.