KARACHI - President Sindh Balochistan Rice Mills Association (SBRMA) Arif Mahesar has informed the Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (Unisame) that in Sindh and Balochistan there are 64 rice mills having contract with Passco and out of which only 20 were functional due to shortage of Passco staff, which are required to be appointed on each mill to monitor the procurement of paddy by these mills and to ensure the price paid to growers be at the support price of government. In his communication, he stated that there are more than 900 mills in Sindh and Balochistan while rest of mills, about more than 840, have to trade their rice in open market and market price last quoted was around 2050 per 100 kilos in Karachi, so it is obvious these mills cannot ensure support price for paddy when they are not paid support price for rice. The policy is merely an eye-wash to poor farmers, which is quite obvious that even after more than a month, Passco could not have established reasonable number of centres to procure paddy and SME farmers had lost every thing in recent rains waiting for Paasco action, he lamented He said the situation is even critical as now this damaged paddy will even be refused at these Passco centres and farmers have to throw it in open market. President Unisame said it was unwise of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MINFAL) to have given false hope to the SME farmers without having the infrastructure to manage the huge amount of paddy and knowing fully well the capabilities of Passco. He also regretted the unwise decision of the Ministry of Commerce (MoC) to have given permission to Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to jump the wagon and further make a mess of the situation. He urged the government to urgently consider the appeal of the Rice Exporters Association (REAP) and find ways and means to save the rice industry from further losses.