Mill on the Loss

The story is familiar to the family of Nemi Chand Srisrimal 8212; once known as Chhattisgarh8217;s 8216;Rice King8217; 8212; which owned 14 rice mills in Raipur and Mahasamund. Eleven of their mills have been either shut down or converted into godowns, and the family has diversified into other businesses. Lalit Mohan Agarwal, another leading Raipur miller, has moved ahead by turning his mill premises into a supermarket.

The names change, but they spell out the same story: The rice industry in India8217;s own 8216;rice bowl8217; is in the doldrums. Of the 880 mills in the area that became the Chhattisgarh state, 450-odd have permanently downed shutters. The ones still functional are working under-capacity. It is a phenomenal fall for an industry that dominated Chhattisgarh8217;s agricultural economy for over 40 years, fed the Food Corporation of India 60 per cent of its produce and exported to Thailand, Africa and the Middle-East.

Why has the rice industry collapsed? Put the question to Opposition leaders, and they would inevitably accuse Congress Chief Minister Ajit Jogi of systematically closing down rice mills owned by BJP sympathisers. 8216;8216;They keep announcing concessions for industrial giants like Jindals, Sterlite etc, but the rice-millers8217; initiatives have been slashed,8217;8217; alleges Brij Mohan Aggarwal, senior BJP MLA. Critics point out that the government has not announced any sales tax exemptions or other measures to revive the sick mills.

In 2001, the government faced charges of corruption in the Vidhan Sabha because it lifted a record 19 lakh tonnes of paddy and turned it over for private milling, thereby providing 100-odd millers work after five years. Though the government has promised to repeat the good deed this year, millers are only too aware that this can only be a short-term programme.

Admits Subrata Sahu, managing director of the Chhattisgarh Nagarikpruti Nigam, 8216;8216;It8217;s not a happy situation. Millers have to learn to live with the open market economy.8217;8217;

Chhattisgarh8217;s Minister for Food and Supplies Chinesh Ram Rathia says substantially the same thing in less kind language: 8216;8216;Mills came up like mushrooms to exploit the farmers. Now that farmers are protected by the government, the millers are crying. Why can8217;t they stand up to competition?8217;8217;

It may be too much to expect from a group that has long used influence with the state and Central governments to get its way. Moreover, as M C Mathur, former director of Madhya Pradesh rice mills, says, the slide of the Chhattisgarh mills coincided with the emergence of consumer states like Bihar, Orissa and Bengal as producers. Simultaneously, the export market dried up, as the international price of rice fell below the price of the Indian varieties. All of this led to the weakening of the lobby group8217;s bargaining power, and consequently, its leverage with the authorities.

Points out Anoop Goel, president of the Chhattisgarh Rice Millers8217; Union, 8216;8216;Now that the FCI sells its rice for prices lower than the ones at which millers bought the paddy, who will buy our rice?8217;8217;

But the larger issue that refuses to be hidden by these factors is that Chhattisgarh has done little to improve its rice varieties. Having specialised in the boiled rice varieties 8212; which have high yield, but also a heavy percentage upto 70 of broken rice 8212; the state has found formidable competitors in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, all of which grow superior, market-friendly varieties of rice. Similarly, the vast majority of mills have not upgraded themselves, and continue to depend on old technology. All of which led to the FCI abandoning Chhattisgarh rice in 1996.

Last month, a rice-millers8217; delegation met Union Minister for Food and Consumer Affairs Sharad Yadav, demanding that the FCI be directed to lift boiled rice from Chhattisgarh just as it does in Punjab. They also asked the government to get 8216;test-milling8217; done to determine cost dynamics and accordingly frame a policy. Whether it8217;s a case of too little, too late is something only time will tell.

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