Telangana: Rice Millers Hoard ₹50-Crore Worth PDS Rice, Says V&E Report

By Mouli Moreedu

Vigilance and Enforcement (V&E) director Shikha Goel has submitted a report to the government on the diversion of Custom Milled Rice (CMR) — fine rice meant for the Public Distribution System (PDS) — worth ₹50 crore in Telangana.

Despite months having passed since the launch of the fine rice distribution scheme, several rice millers allegedly continued diverting PDS rice. Goel said that raids were conducted on rice mills across different parts of Telangana, during which multiple violations were detected. “After a thorough inquiry, it was found that PDS rice worth at least ₹50 crore was in the possession of rice millers who had obtained the material illegally,” she stated.

A detailed report on the findings has been submitted to the government. According to the report, the diversion took place through middlemen who supplied PDS rice to private millers for illegal profit. The vigilance department is now tracing these intermediaries to determine how they procured and diverted the rice, and further investigation into their activities is underway.

The report noted that V&E officials, along with civil supplies department officers, conducted raids on PVR Agro Industries located at Jafargudem village in Raghunathapalli mandal of Jangaon district. Similar raids were also carried out at a storage shed in Mujahidpur village under the Kutkacharla police limits of Cyberabad, where the accused had stored about 75 quintals of PDS rice worth approximately `2.7 lakh.

This article has been republished from The Deccan Chronicle.