Rabi paddy procurement has been paralysed in the backward district as custom millers have stopped work for the past three days as a mark of protest against an order of Odisha Civil Supply Corporation to stop payment of handling charges of Rs 4 per quintal paid to them. Odisha Civil Supply Corporation in its 12 June order discontinued the handling charges paid to the custom millers for delivering the stock of rice at Rice Receiving Centres-cum-Departmental Storage Centres (RRCs-cum-DSCs) and stacking inside the godown. About 2 lakh quintals of Rabi paddy are yet to be procured from farmers. 12.51 lakh quintals of Rabi Paddy have already been purchased in 70 purchasing centers run by 43 Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies. Delay in procurement of paddy by the state government has become a major problem for the farmers due to the onset of monsoon. They fear that bags of paddy bags stocked at different procurement centres may get spoilt in the rain.