Civil Supplies Minister Nadendla Manohar said that Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has directed the CBCID to investigate the incidents that took place in Visakhapatnam and Kakinada and that smuggling of PDS rice in the state has been the focus of the state.
Speaking at the Visakhapatnam Collector’s Office, he said that 1066 cases have been registered against illegal rice smuggling. He said that 120 million tonnes of rice have been smuggled. A regional conference was organized in Visakhapatnam and the Rice Millers Association was advised to work with the government.
He said that paddy is being purchased in the state and 10.59 lakh tonnes of paddy were purchased within 10 days. He said that 1.69 lakh metric tonnes of paddy were purchased in Northern Andhra alone and Rs 229 crores were deposited in the accounts of farmers within 24 hours.
He said that during the previous YSRCP government, only 2092 metric tonnes were purchased by this time. Manohar, who is on a five-day tour of Northern Andhra, said that twice as much rice has left Kakinada port as Visakhapatnam and Krishnapatnam ports.
He said that there were some senior officials involved in the movement of rice through Kakinada port, and that this matter has caused him great distress.He explained that every detail of the Stella ship is being inspected under the supervision of the Kakinada Collector, and that so far 729 cases have been registered against people involved in illegal rice transport and 102 vehicles have been seized.
He held a review of the regional civil supplies department officials at the Visakhapatnam Collector’s Conference Hall. Joint Collectors of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalle, Alluri, Manyam, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, districts and senior officials of the civil supplies department participated in the review. Minister Nadendla reviewed issues such as grain procurement, ration distribution, monitoring of ration shops, price monitoring of essential commodities, Deepam 2.0 and others.