Punjab Governor Banwari Lal Purohit replied Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on 5637 crore RDF fund; Governor said matter pending Supreme Court Give information expenditure fifty thousand crores. Purohit said- wait for the decision of the Supreme Court; Also give information about Rs 50 thousand crore loan

Governor Banwari Lal Purohit has responded to Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann’s demand to release Rs 5637 crore Rural Development Fund (RDF) of the state from the Central Government. The Governor said that the Chief Minister has already approached the Supreme Court. They should wait for the decision of the Supreme Court.

Purohit said that he has come to know that during the rule of AAP, the debt of Punjab has increased by about Rs 50 thousand crores. On this, he has sought information from the Chief Minister about the use of this huge amount, so that he can assure the Prime Minister about the proper utilization of the funds.

Copy of the letter written by the Punjab Governor to the Chief Minister Punjab Bhagwant Mann.

Mann had appealed to Purohit to raise the issue of RDF.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had written a letter to Punjab Governor Banwari Lal Purohit on September 21. In this, he had appealed to the Governor to raise the issue of Punjab’s Rs 5637.4 crore RDF fund with the President and the Prime Minister and get it released. Chief Minister Mann also said in his letter that Punjab Mandi Board/Rural Development Board is unable to repay the existing loan.

He also said that Punjab will suffer a loss of Rs 400 crore in two seasons due to the central government reducing the MDF fund from three percent to two percent.

Punjab suffered a total loss of Rs 440 crore due to reduction in MDF.
Earlier, the Chief Minister said that the Central Government, while releasing the temporary purchase sheet for the wheat procurement season 2023-24, reduced the MDF from three percent to two percent. As a result Punjab had to suffer an additional loss of Rs 265 crore. Due to this, the total loss in two seasons reached Rs 440 crore (175 crore + 265 crore). He said that non-release of these funds at this stage will have a negative impact on rural infrastructure and economy.

Chief Minister called Punjab incapable of repaying its debt
Earlier, the Chief Minister said that Punjab Mandi Board/Rural Development Board cannot repay the loan taken in the past for the development of rural infrastructure. He said that this matter was raised several times with the Central Government and even with the Prime Minister. But the Central Government has not yet released the Rural Development Fund of Rs 5637.4 crore.

Mandi and Rural Development Board cannot return the loan
Earlier, Chief Minister Mann said that due to non-payment of Rural Development Fund and Mandi Development Fund, Mandi Board/Rural Development Board is not able to repay the existing loan. Similarly, the government cannot continue the development activities uninterrupted for the welfare of the rural population and farmers of the state. Chief Minister Mann appealed to the Governor to raise this problem with the President and the Prime Minister, so that the outstanding amount can be released soon.

Punjab government gave clarifications to the central government
Chief Minister Mann said that in principle, all the expenses for purchasing food grains have to be reimbursed by the Ministry of Food and Public Distribution, Government of India. He said that the Government of India did not make payment to the Rural Development Fund due to lack of some clarification in the provisional purchase sheet of Kharif Marketing Season 2020-21.

The Chief Minister said that after deliberations, all the clarifications sought by the Ministry of Food and Public Distribution have been submitted by the State Government. As per the instructions of the Central Government/FCI, amendments were also made in the Punjab Rural Development Act, 1987.

Chief Minister Punjab expressed regret over stopping RDF funds
The Chief Minister said that according to this, the Central Government released the pending money of Rural Development Fund for Rabi Marketing Season 2021-22. Chief Minister Mann said that according to Section 7 of the Punjab Rural Development Act (PRDA) 1987, three percent of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) has to be paid to the Punjab Rural Development Board as rural development fee.

Agriculture sector and livelihood of farmers will be hurt
Chief Minister Mann said that all the expenditure is as per the proposal of PRDA, 1987 and all the heads of expenditure are related to rural, agriculture and related matters. He said that this will hurt the development of agriculture sector and livelihood of farmers, which is necessary to increase the efficiency of procurement centres. He said that at the time of releasing the provisional cost sheet for Kharif season 2022-23, the Central Government approved two percent Mandi Development Fund (MDF) and kept one percent with itself. This caused a loss of Rs 175 crore.

Punjab CM’s letter to the Governor: Bhagwant Mann said- the state is burdened with debt; Raise RDF issue with President-Prime Minister

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann has written a letter to Governor Banwari Lal Purohit for release of Rural Development Fund (RDF). He demanded the Governor to raise the issue of withheld Rs 5637.4 crore RDF of Punjab with the President and the Prime Minister. Also said that Punjab Mandi Board/Rural Development Board is not able to repay the existing loan. Read the full news…