Hyderabad: A statewide operation by the Vigilance and Enforcement (V&E) Department has unearthed an alleged scam involving the diversion of government-procured paddy worth nearly Rs 500 crore by rice millers.
The findings have prompted criminal cases against those involved and initiated a major recovery drive by the authorities, as reported by the Times of India.
Investigators said large quantities of paddy supplied to rice mills under the custom milling scheme were neither found in stock nor returned to the government as rice, resulting in significant losses to the state exchequer.
Under the scheme, the government procures paddy from farmers and allocates it to rice mills for processing. The mills are required to return a stipulated quantity of rice within a specified period, but officials allege that substantial quantities were diverted instead.
However, officials noticed a widening gap between the quantity of paddy handed over to millers and the rice received by the government from 2023 onwards.
Following this, the Chief Minister’s Office directed the V&E department to probe the irregularities. Civil Supplies Corporation commissioner Stephen Ravindra confirmed that around 90,000 metric tonnes of paddy were missing.
He said rice mills in Nalgonda, Warangal, Karimnagar, Sangareddy, Nizamabad, Kamareddy, and Suryapet had sold off this paddy accumulated over the past three years.
The amount would be recovered towards paddy,” he said.
Raids on since July 20
Raids carried out since July 20 across 15 districts revealed large-scale discrepancies. Officials found that as many as 50 rice mills neither had the stock nor had returned custom-milled rice to the government.
Preliminary findings show that millers had allegedly sold around Rs 500 crore worth of government paddy in the open market.
The department has begun registering criminal cases. “Under sections 316 and 318 of the BNS and other relevant sections of essential commodities and misappropriation, there is a punishment of at least10 years’ imprisonment,” a V&E official said.
Almost Rs 300 crore of the estimated Rs 500 crore worth of diverted paddy has been recovered after notices were issued to mill owners, the report said.
It quotes a rice miller as admitting that a section of the industry was responsible for the irregularities. “There are 3,000 rice mills and one should not generalise such cases because of 50-odd rice millers’ wrongdoing.”
