Mills don8217;t deposit,state doesn8217;t check

This works out to a loss of Rs 9.85 crore to the state government and makes Pawapuri Rice Mill one of the top five defaulting mills in the state.

Nalanda,the home district of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar,is among the top five defaulter districts. Rohtas district has failed to deposit 69 per cent of the rice it owes and tops the list. It is followed by Buxar with 52 per cent,Kamiur with 31 per cent,Nalanda with 26 per cent and Patna with 20 per cent.

The five districts together account for Rs 320 crore of the Rs 535 crore loss the SFC is set to suffer due to the failure of rice mills in the state to deposit rice they owe the state government firm.

A visit to some of these defaulting districts found mill owners,some of whom allegedly sold the paddy they got from the SFC in the open market and made huge profits,blaming the SFC for allowing the corruption.

Dinesh Gupta,co-owner of Pawapuri Rice Mill,said the SFCs tardy administration was responsible for the shortage of rice. The stage agency had not put in place a mechanism to take back rice from the mills,he claimed. We are going to the high court to get relief as the entire blame for not depositing rice must not be put on us. Why shouldnt action be taken against SFC officials who did not follow the advance-paddy-for-rice norms? said Gupta.

He also accused the SFC of not sending an enforcement officer to check the quality of rice that had been processed before it is sent to FCI godowns. The lack of checks resulted in the FCI rejecting some rice consignments,he claimed.

SFC regulations say that the enforcement officer is responsible for the quality of rice and for rejections by the FCI on grounds of the rice having excess moisture,being broken or red or black beyond the specified percentage.

If FCI does not accept CMR customed milled rice,enforcement officer and weight and measurement officials will be solely responsible and will face legal action, SFC rules say. But not a single SFC manager or enforcement officer has been named in the FIRs filed so far against rice mills for failing to supply the rice they owe FCI.

The Indian Express visited six rice mills in Nalanda and did not find a single enforcement officer present when rice consignments were being loaded to be despatched to FCI godowns.

Shivsagar Rice Mill in Dipnagar is among the 28 defaulters in Nalanda district. Its owner,Shravan Kumar,claims he has not got a fair deal.

One can see piles of rice at the mill. The FCI would check a sack of rice randomly and if rice in the sack is not as per its specifications,it is rejected. How can an entire stock be rejected on the basis of checking just one sack? he said.

Asked if some mill owners had also sold paddy in the open market as alleged by the SFC,Kumar,who is president of the Nalanda rice association and also associated with the ruling JDU,replied: How do you expect me to speak against my community?

Other mills in Nalanda that still owe rice include Magadh Rice Mill and Vikas Rice Mill of Chandi,Shakti Agro Industries,Harnaut,Maa Jagdamba Rice Mill of Nirmalbigaha and Guru Gobind Rice Mill of Parwalpur.

The Nalanda SFC district manager,Vinodanand Jha,was not available for comment.

Food and Civil Supplies Minister Shyam Rajak said the government had to give paddy to undeserving mills as Bihar does not have enough mills. It is the first time the SFC is procuring paddy and getting it milled. We are getting some big rice mills in a year or two at our own expense, Rajak said.