Rajanna Sircilla Collectorate Besieged… Rice Millers Protest Over Pending Dues and 48 Day Raids
RSD_Rajanna Sircilla: The Rajanna Sircilla District Collectorate witnessed high tension on Thursday as hundreds of rice millers, mill staff and hamalis wearing black scarves staged a Maha Dharna in front of the Collectorate gate.
The protest is part of the state wide indefinite strike called by rice millers since September 8th. All raw and boiled rice mills in the district have been shut down.
Led by Raw Rice Mill Association District President Pabba Nagaraju and Boiled Rice Mill Association President Chepuri Nagaraju, the millers raised slogans against the government and vigilance officials.
Why the protest?
The millers allege that the issue of CMR (Custom Milling Rice) dues has triggered a war between millers and the government. For the last 48 days, Vigilance and Enforcement officials have been conducting raids on mills, booking cases and even sending millers to jail, alleging that paddy stock worth crores is missing.
Millers say that branding all millers as thieves for the fault of a few is unjustified and is causing mental agony.
Indefinite strike till demands met:
The millers submitted a memorandum with 13 demands to Joint Collector Nagesh after police prevented them from entering the Collectorate. They warned that the mills will remain closed until their problems are resolved.
Their key demands include:
- Immediate stop to vigilance raids and harassment.
- Payment of pending milling charges, hamali charges and commission since 2014 at Rs.150 per quintal.
- Cancellation of 25% penalty and 12% interest on CMR dues.
- To accept Kharif as raw rice only and Rabi as boiled rice only.
- Not to allocate paddy beyond mill capacity and to allow defaulters to pay dues in 4 installments.
- To provide power at subsidy and recognize rice mills as agriculture-allied industries.
