Haryana rice millers’ body seeks clearance of dues to tune of ₹500 cr

The North Haryana Rice Millers’ Association has urged the state government to clear their dues amounting to about ₹500 crore for the last four years.

Association chairperson, Satpal Gupta said that dues of 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 were mainly on account of driage, unloading, stacking, rent of stock articles and transportation charges.

Gupta has appealed to the state procurement agencies including food and supplies, HAFED and Haryana Warehousing Corporation, to clear the pending dues at the earliest. The association said they will not register or enter into any agreement with government agencies for the upcoming Kharif marketing season 2024-25 unless their concerns are addressed and demands are met.

The association said there is lack of space in government warehouses for the storage of rice being supplied by rice millers.

“Due to shortage of space, the rice millers are facing problems and financial stress. The rice delivery which was scheduled to be completed by March 31, 2024, is still pending. About 2.5 lakh metric tonne of rice delivery is pending due to want of space,” said Gupta.

This article has been republished from The Hindustan Times.