The Hindu : Front Page : Rice levy order enforced; State to procure 33 p.c. of produce

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Rice levy order enforced; State to procure 33 p.c. of produce

S. Rajendran

Inter-State movement of paddy and rice banned

Bangalore: The State Government has enforced the rice levy order from Sunday, to procure 33 per cent of the rice produced in the State, to safeguard the interests of Karnataka in the national foodgrains procurement pool managed by the Food Corporation of India.

Sources in the State Government told The Hindu that the Union Government had categorically told Karnataka that the quantity of rice made over to the State under the Public Distribution System (PDS) would be substantially reduced if the State failed to procure levy rice and pass it on to the Central pool.

The levy order will be particularly enforced in the rice-growing districts of Bellary, Koppal, Raichur, Shimoga , Davangere, Mandya and Tumkur.

To ensure smooth collection of the levy rice, the Government has banned inter-State movement of both paddy and rice.

Permission

However, paddy growers, rice millers and even commission agents and wholesalers can transport rice across the State borders with the permission of the Deputy Commissioners of their respective districts.

Such permission will, however, be granted only if they have fulfilled the levy quantum. The collection of levy rice will not have any effect on the prices prevailing in the retail market as only the lower qualities of rice are made over to the Central pool.

Meeting

Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, who chaired a high-level meeting with top officials of the Food Ministry and rice millers, is stated to have ordered that the collection of levy rice should commence right away following which directions have been issued to the Deputy Commissioners of rice-growing districts.

Protection of interests

The Chief Minister has also mentioned that the interests of rice millers, paddy growers and consumers will be taken care of. The sources said the State Government had signed an undertaking with the Union Food Ministry to procure the levy rice in all earnestness.

While the State has a PDS rice allocation of 17 lakh tonnes a year, the total levy rice procurement in the last year was a meagre 20,000 tonnes.

‘Low order’

Levy rice procurement in the State has been of a very low order during the past 10 years and this has reportedly prompted the Centre to act tough.

The Commissioner for Food and Civil Supplies, Shivaram, told The Hindu that the department had evolved a new method for levy rice collection. The procurement from millers would be directly proportionate to their power consumption — for every 40 kilowatt (Kwhr) consumption, they have to handover one tonne of rice.

Similarly, wholesalers and commission agents will have to pass on 10 per cent of rice sales to the levy pool of the Government.

Target

Mr. Shivaram said the State had fixed a target of 2.5 lakh tonnes (if not 33 per cent) for the levy pool.

Achieving the target should not be much of a problem given the fact that the State produced around 40 lakh tonnes of rice annually .

The target was also for both the Kharif and Rabi seasons and covered all varieties of rice.

The levy rice collection was based on quantity and not the quality, he added.

Foodgrain availability

Levy rice, as the name indicates, is procured by the State Government making it available to people who are dependent on the Public Distribution System, which in turn ensures availability of foodgrains at a subsidised rate.

The strict enforcement of levy procurement had, however, been given a go-by over the past decade following the buffer stocks both in the Central pool and in the State pool.

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