Rural development funds: The AAP government in Punjab has decided to move the Supreme Court against the Centre for not releasing the Rural Development Fund of Rs 4,000 crore which is due to the state.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann chaired a meeting to discuss the government stand in the apex court on Tuesday. Top officials including Advocate General Vinod Ghai were present in the meeting. Sources said the government was rushing against time to have its case listed before the Supreme Court shuts down for summer vacation which begins next week.
Rural infrastructure in mess
Talking to reporters, Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said the state had no choice but to knock at the doors of the apex court to get its dues released. “Our rural infrastructure is in a mess because we have no money to build it,” he said.
While the Centre is yet to clear previous years’ dues of Rs 3,200 crore of the RDF, another Rs 750 crore due to the state for this year’s wheat has also not been given. The state has also suffered a loss of nearly Rs 250 crore on account of reduced market fee. The provisional cost sheet sent by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution on May 3 makes no mention of the RDF to be given to the state and has reduced the market fee from 3 to 2 per cent.
Statutory charges
The government had earlier promised to give 2 per cent RDF and 2 per cent market fee on the minimum support price of wheat and paddy, reducing these from 3 per cent each. These are statutory charges levied by the state government.
The Centre reportedly wanted the state to agree to its proposal, which the AAP government refused to do, fearing a political fallout of accepting lower funds than what is due from the Centre. Considering the precarious fiscal health, the government does not want to accept a lower slab, which will reduce its revenue receipts. As a result, the Centre released the provisional cost sheet without giving any RDF.
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