V&E Inspections Detect 1.90 Lakh Quintals Paddy Diversion in Telangana

The inspections were carried out in Mahabubabad, Peddapalli, Ranga Reddy, Vikarabad, Narayanpet, Suryapet, Nalgonda, Kamareddy and Nizamabad.

Of these mills, 14 mills have been found to be involved in serious irregularities such as diversion, shortage and misuse of Specially Milled Rice (CMR) paddy to be distributed by the government, while five mills have received warnings and have been placed under close surveillance for violation of record keeping and legal requirements, V&E Managing Director Shikha Goel said on Tuesday.

Inspections revealed that more than 1.90 lakh quintals of paddy and around 1.72 lakh sacks were found diverted or missing, resulting in a financial loss of over Rs.60 crore to the State Finance Department. Kanat also issued notices to five factory owners for committing irregularities, and many lawsuits were filed regarding this issue.

Major cases of diversion were detected in Narayanpet district, where paddy worth around Rs 15.91 billion was found missing from two rice mills. Famine worth around 19.73 billion rupees was detected in Kamareddy and Nizamabad districts.

In Suryapet district, government paddy worth approximately Rs 19.32 billion was diverted; In Peddapalli district, famine worth approximately 11.38 billion rupees was detected. While diversion worth around Rs.4.86 lakh was detected in Mahabubabad district, diversion of CMR stock worth around Rs.88 lakh was noticed in Ranga Reddy district.

He said the rice mill named Janakirama Industries in Poosala village of Sultanabad Mandal in Peddapalli district was closed after the Civil Supplies department issued a show-cause notice for serious violations.

Moreover, criminal proceedings have already been completed in the case of Maruti Industries in Manthani, against whom action had been taken earlier for similar offences.

Vigilance teams also found distraction in many factories over multiple seasons, indicating systematic and organized misuse of government-supplied paddy. While legal records were not kept properly in some factories, in others large quantities of CMR paddy were found missing despite being duly allocated by the Civil Supplies department.

According to the findings of the Vigilance Agency, a large number of criminal cases are being registered against defaulting rice millers. Requests were made to the Civil Supplies department in all affected districts for compensation of government losses, cancellation of licenses, blacklisting of errant millers and prosecution under relevant laws.

Showcase notices were also issued wherever recordkeeping violations were discovered. Through intelligence-driven targeting and rapid field action, the department uncovered high-value frauds and prevented further leakage of government stockpiles.