Guwahati, May 24: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday assured rice millers of meeting the commitments made to them in regard to subsidies and that any grievances regarding the same would be addressed at the earliest.
“So far, subsidies amounting to a total of Rs 9 crore have already been released,” the chief minister said at an interactive meeting with rice millers of the state and officials from the department of food, civil supplies and consumer affairs at the Maniram Dewan Trade Centre here.
Organised primarily to address the subject of meeting the July 1, 2023 target of fortified rice kernels (FRK)-blended milled rice by rice millers, the meeting also touched upon other issues that have the potential to benefit millers as well as paddy cultivators of the state.
According to the directives from the Centre, rice to be procured by the government agencies from July 1 have to be mandatorily blended with fortified rice kernels. The Assam government has extended subsidies of up to Rs 2 lakh per mill for purchase of blender machines, required for the purpose of blending of general rice grains with FRK.
The chief minister stated that around 300 millers have already installed blender machines while the remaining millers were expected to do the same at the earliest.
Addressing the millers who are yet to install blender machines at their mills, the chief minister reminded them of the July 1 deadline, after which non-FRK rice grains shall not be procured by any government rice grain procurement agencies.
