Verification of rice stock in Koraput mills underway

The enforcement wing of the district civil supplies office in Koraput’s Jeypore has started physical verification of rice stocks in different mills following allegations of the sale of government-procured paddy outside the state.

At least 95 millers of the district had received around 24.61 lakh quintal of paddy from the civil supplies department for custom milling during the 2022-23 kharif season. They were supposed to provide 16.49 lakh quintal of custom-milled paddy to the department by October this year.

However, it was alleged that some millers sold the procured paddy outside the state between May and June to make a quick buck as its price was more than the MSP in the market. Sources said for the last two days, civil supplies officials are carrying out physical verification of rice stocks in the mills of Jeypore, Borigumma, Koraput and Kotpad areas to detect any unholy transactions.

Contacted, district civil supplies officer PK Panda said physical verification of rice stocks in mills will continue for the next couple of days. “It is a regular exercise to check the stock of government-procured paddy in rice mills to ensure that the target is reached,” he added.
Sources said millers of Koraput have supplied around 80 per cent of the custom-milled rice to government-run godowns and the rest 20 per cent paddy still remains with them.
New Indian Express