Haryana: Deadline for delivery of custom-milled rice extended to June 30
By Parveen Arora
With the extension of deadline for the delivery of custom-milled rice (CMR) to June 30 by the Food Corporation of India (FCI), which was earlier March 15, the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department has directed rice millers to speed up the delivery of their remaining rice before the extended deadline, otherwise penalty as per the CMR policy 2024-25 would be imposed.
The policy says a miller is required to deliver 67% rice with 1% fortified rice kernels (FRK) against the total allotted paddy. Each miller must deliver 15% of rice by the end of November, another 25% by December-end, further 25% by January-end, another 25% by February-end, and the remaining 10% by March 15.
Data revealed that millers have been allotted 53,98,661.32 MT of paddy, against which they have to deliver 36,53,274.51 MT of rice. So far, the millers across the state have delivered 30,53,683.43 MT, which is around 83.5%.
As per officials, the extension was given to provide relief to the millers who had raised concerns at various platforms. They had highlighted major issues that caused delays, including the non-finalisation of godown allocations for CMR delivery on time and the delay in the decision to reduce GST on FRK.
The millers said due to these problems, they could not begin CMR delivery until December. As per the policy, they were supposed to deliver 40% of the total rice by the end of December.
Anil Kumar, District Food and Supplies Controller (DFSC), Karnal, confirmed the extension. “The FCI has extended the deadline for CMR delivery to June 30 instead of the earlier deadline of March 15. We have directed all millers to deliver the pending CMR. If they fail, action will be taken under the CMR Policy 2024–25.”
He further said that Karnal DC Uttam Singh, who was also the chairman of the district CMR Committee, had already issued directions to the millers. “Around 70% of rice has been received so far against the paddy allotted to around 230 millers in the district,” he said.
The DFSC also said the FCI had asked agencies to ensure the delivery of non-FRK rice. The millers had been instructed accordingly.
In the latest order, the FCI has assigned specific targets to districts to ensure the delivery of non-FRK rice as well.
This article has been republished from The Tribune.