Punjab exploring possibility of moving court against Centre over pending Rural Development Fund: Bhagwant Mann

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday said the State government was exploring the possibility of moving the court for seeking pending funds under the Rural Development Fund (RDF) from the Centre.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday said the State government was exploring the possibility of moving the court for seeking pending funds under the Rural Development Fund (RDF) from the Centre.

Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre, Mr. Mann said it was unnecessarily harassing the State by stalling funds worth ₹30,000 crore under the RDF.

“While the State government has completed all the formalities, the Central government has deliberately stalled the legitimate funds of the State, which is sheer injustice,” Mr. Mann said at a press conference here.

Taking a dig at previous governments in the State, the Chief Minister said they always thought of their vested interests, but the AAP government had pulled all the plugs to enhance the State’s revenue. He said the efforts had produced desired results as the State had been able to generate maximum revenue.

Mr. Mann said the State had witnessed an increase in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection. Earlier, its was the worst-performing State in GST collection, but now with a hike of 16.6%, Punjab was one of the top performing States in GST collection, he said.

He said owing to the strenuous efforts of the government, power generation had enhanced manifold, and Punjab was heading towards becoming a power surplus State.

The Chief Minister said around 50 ‘public sand mines’ were operational in the State. and this number would be enhanced as the government would soon open 150 new mines. The sand was being supplied at ₹5.50 per cubic feet, he said.