92 rice mills lose licence in Nilphamari
Power lines to be snapped for not supplying foodgrains to govt godowns
Licences of 92 rice mills have been cancelled in Nilphamari for not supplying rice and paddy to government godowns at official rates under the on going food procurement drive. Of them, licences of 44 rice mills were cancelled on Thursday.
The licences were cancelled at the recommendation of district food procurement committee, district controller of food (DC food) Enayetur Rahman told newsmen yesterday. The administration has also taken a decision to snap power connection to the defaulting rice mills, he said.
The government procurement rate is Tk 28 per kilogram for rice and Tk 18 for paddy in the current Irri-Boro season.
As per agreement, all licensed rice mills are obliged to supply rice, paddy and wheat to food department at government rates, he said. They have violated the agreement by not supplying food grains.
Rice mill owners are making the best use of licences by availing bank loans on easy terms, power connection on emergency basis and other facilities but are not fulfilling their obligations, he said.
Of the 92 rice mills, 32 are in Sadar upazila, 21 in Domar, 18 in Jaldhaka, 10 in Saidpur, five in Dimla and six in Kishoreganj upazila, sources at district food office said.
The sources said many licensed rice mills stopped operation long ago but were enjoying all the facilities.
However, 320 mills are supplying rice and paddy to government godowns as per agreement, the sources said.
Meanwhile, Brigade Commander of 222 Brigade Brig Gen Abu Belal Muhammad Shafiul Haque held a meeting with rice mill owners in the district on Monday at the conference room of the deputy commissioner.
At the meeting he requested mill owners to abide by the conditions as the rice thus procured are distributed among poor people at reasonable prices.
“They earn profit and should also abide by the agreement. Any violation of the agreement should the punished”, he said.
He urged rice mill owners to co-operate with the government to make its food procurement drive a success.
He said the government is firm to fulfill the procurement target and those who are not co-operating with the government should face action as per law.
The Irri-Boro procurement target in Nilphamari district is 27,000 tonnes of rice and 5,000 tonnes of paddy. Till June, 14,000 tonnes of rice and 890 tonnes of paddy were procured, food department sources said.
The procurement will continue till August 31.
Taking to this correspondent, some rice mill owners said they want to cooperate with the government but they can not operate mills due to rain and bad weather now. They also demanded smooth supply of electricity to operate the mills.
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