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Punjab CM hits out at Centre for suspending RDF, reducing mandi fee
Asks “new BJP leaders”, including Capt Amarinder Singh and Sunil Jakhar, if they have courage to take up the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday took on the BJP-led central government over its decision to suspend Punjab’s Rural Development Fund (RDF) and reduce the mandi fee, asking the “new BJP leaders” if they have the courage to take up the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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In a tweet, Mann said that BJP has exposed its anti-Punjab and anti-farmer face. “Despite our efforts, the market fee has been reduced from 3% to 2% and RDF from 3% to 0% in this rabi season. Punjab will lose ₹250 crore from market fee and ₹750 crore of RDF, total ₹1,000 crore,” he posted on Twitter.
Mann posed a query to Captain Amarinder Singh, Sunil Jakhar, Manpreet Singh Badal, Rana Sodhi, Gurpreet Singh Kangar, Fatehjung Bajwa and Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal if they had the courage to take up this matter with the Prime Minister. All these leaders joined the BJP from other parties.
The chief minister said that AAP leaders were constantly asking the Centre to release the pending RDF as this money was used for the development of rural areas of the state, but the central government kept denying Punjab its money, and now on top of that, this rabi season they reduced market fee and robbed Punjab of another ₹250 crore.
“The Modi government has been working against Punjab and its farmers because of their defeat during the farmers’ movement. Today, the Centre has again shown its bitterness towards Punjab and the farmers by brazenly refusing to give ₹1,000 crore of the state,” he said in a statement.
Mann reminded the central government that it is Punjab and Punjab’s farmers, who made our country food sufficient. “In return, what has the Centre ever done for Punjab and our farmers?” he said.
