Under the leadership of BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh, a delegation of the Punjab Rice Industry Association (PRIA) today met Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Prahlad Joshi, at his residence.
During the meeting, the delegation drew the minister’s attention to serious and pressing issues concerning the rice milling industry in Punjab, with particular emphasis on the Fortified Rice Kernel (FRK) policy and the acute storage crisis in the state.
During the discussion, Tarun Chugh suggested that instead of continuing with FRK, the government should consider adopting a policy of accepting less-polished rice. He said that at present, FCI is accepting excessively polished rice from Punjab, which is not in line with international standards.
Chugh emphasized that if a policy of less-polished rice is adopted, the natural quality of rice will be preserved and the need for fortification will automatically be eliminated. This would benefit both consumers and the industry, while also reducing the financial burden on the country.
The delegation, led by PRIA President Bharat Bhushan Binta, expressed deep concern over the existing FRK policy. The association demanded that, at least for the current year, the delivery of fortified rice should be deferred, pointing out that the central government already has a huge stock of fortified rice lying in warehouses across the country.
Binta stated that if the delivery of fortified rice is halted for one year, the heavy pressure currently burdening the rice milling industry due to FRK-related complexities would be significantly reduced.The delegation explained that despite excess stock, the continued insistence on FRK has disrupted milling operations and increased unnecessary financial and operational pressure on rice millers in Punjab.
They urged the Union Minister to adopt a practical approach keeping ground realities in mind and to provide immediate relief to the industry.Raising another important issue, delegation member Ranjit Singh Josan demanded the immediate reintroduction of AI-based grain analyzer machines.
He informed the minister that these machines have been non-functional for the past one year, resulting in arbitrary functioning by FCI staff and widespread dissatisfaction among rice millers. He said that keeping AI-based systems inactive goes against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India vision and adversely affects transparency and fairness in procurement processes.
On this issue, the minister directed senior officials of the ministry present at the meeting to ensure a time-bound inspection of the AI-based machines by an independent agency and, if any upgrades are required, to complete them and strictly implement their use in daily operations with immediate effect, so that human intervention is eliminated.
The issue of severe shortage of storage space in Punjab was also prominently raised. The delegation informed the minister that around 105 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of rice are to be delivered from Punjab this year, while most warehouses in the state are already filled with rice and wheat stocks.
The association warned that if the movement of rice and wheat from Punjab is not expedited, then at the current pace it could take nearly one year to complete the delivery of 105 lakh metric tonnes of rice. This poses a serious risk of deterioration in rice quality and could cause heavy financial losses to the rice industry in the state, which is already facing economic stress.
Union Minister Prahlad Joshi listened carefully to all the issues raised by the delegation and assured the Punjab Rice Industry Association that all matters related to Punjab would be considered seriously at the highest level.
He said that concrete decisions would be taken very soon on all issues, including the serious concerns related to fortification, and that meaningful and practical steps would be initiated to resolve the problems of the rice industry.
Those present at the meeting included Hari Om Mittal, Inderjit Garg Jolly, Kamal Garg (Firozpur), Pankaj Garg, Naveen Goyal (Jagraon), Deepak Garg, Sanjeev Kumar, and other office-bearers of the association.