Denied rightful share in RDF, but won’t beg for flood aid from Centre, says CM

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday said they “won’t beg” for flood aid from the Centre even as it “illegally stalled” the release of the state’s rightful share in rural development fund (RDF).

The RDF is a cess levied on the purchase or sale of agricultural produce, which the state procures for the Centre. The fund is used for the construction and repair of rural infrastructure in the state.

The state government and the Centre havr been at loggerheads for the past sometime over the release of the fund.

The CM’s statement comes days after the state government sent the final estimate of the flood damages to the Centre, putting the total loss at Rs 13,832 crore. Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a relief of Rs 1,600 crore, which was termed as “inadequate” by the state government.

Speaking at an event held to distribute relief amount to flood-hit people at Bhala village in Ajnala, Mann said instead of bailing out the state from the crisis, the Union Government was “unfortunately adopting dilly-delaying tactics”. However, he said the state “will not beg for funds from the Centre”.

Mann said they were not “seeking any mercy from the Union Government but wanted the legitimate share of the state in the RDF and other funds, which had been illegally stalled by the Centre”.

Meanwhile, state Revenue Minister Hardeep Singh Mundian told reporters in Ajnala that Punjab “had not received a single rupee of the relief money announced by the Centre” till now.

He said standing crop over 3.50 lakh acres was destroyed, yet it did not move the Centre. “As against the demand of Rs 20,000 crore flood relief, they sanctioned a meagre Rs 1,600 crore, which has not been received till today,” he added.

Reacting to the allegations, BJP leader Manpreet Singh Badal questioned the way the AAP government handled the preparation of loss estimates for submission to the Centre.

“I have learnt that officials of the Bhagwant Mann government emailed the report (to the Centre). This is not the way to run the government,” he said. Badal said there were over 25 state governments, who were competing to secure central funds.

He said Chief Secretary KAP Sinha should hold meetings with central government representatives in Delhi armed with the estimate report and “should not leave ministers’ corridors till the report was properly accepted”.

He also alleged that the Punjab Government failed to acquire land for road projects by the National Highways Authority of India, resulting in a loss of Rs 12,000 crore to the state.

He averred the state government also failed to take without interest an advance of Rs 1.50 lakh crore special assistance scheme, which was to be returned in 50 years.