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Puduvayal rice millers forced to cough up hefty bribes for 'licences'
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Monday, 07 May, 2012, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Our Bureau, Mumbai
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fiogf49gjkf0d Puduvayal, a town about 12 km away from Karaikudi, in Tamil Nadu's Sivaganga District (Sakkottai Union), is famous for two reasons: it is close to the birthplace of P Chidambaram, union home minister, and it has over a hundred modern rice mills.
Last week, the latter bore the brunt of Muthamizh's [the local food safety officer (FSO)] high-handed ways. He allegedly threatened the millers to part with an amount ranging between Rs 30,000 and Rs 50,000 per unit.
He also told each mill-owner to obtain a central licence by paying a fee of Rs 7,500 to the government; and warned them that if they failed to pay anything above the specified amount, he would not permit them to run their establishments.
The shocked millers claimed that the penalties levied on them could range between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 5 lakh. Mohamed Nazar, manager, Puduvayal Rice Millers' Association, said that if the FSO in question was not transferred at the earliest, the traders could resort to a one-day bandh.
Further, the traders are deeply disturbed by the fact that Dr Arulnambi, the designated officer and an honest man, is unfairly being dragged into the matter. “The FSO is using his name to demand bribes from the millers,” Nazar claimed.
The situation is no different in the bazaar. The traders alleged that grocers; medical shop-owners who sell baby food; canteens; small hotels; tea stalls; bunk shops and bakeries were all victims of this. In fact, the grocers were threatened not to sell dal and other packed products.
According to one account, “A baker, Arunachalam Nadar, was forced to pay a bribe of Rs 20,000. He fell down while trying to cough up the specified amount, which the FSO said was the fee to obtain a licence.”
Despite obtaining an interim injunction from the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, the food business operators in the southern state are an unhappy lot; but they are certainly not out.
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