E-Paper
Guv shouldn’t ask us about debts, we inherited it from past govts: Harpal Cheema
In a statement, Punjab finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema said, “We have to pay thousands of crores as interest on debt of about ₹3 lakh crore that was taken by the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party combine and Congress governments in the past. Despite repaying the loan installment and interest, the AAP government is doing good work for the welfare of the people of Punjab.”
Responding to Punjab governor Banwari Lal Purohit’s letter to the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, state’s finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema said the former should not be talking about the state’s financial obligations as the present regime has inherited a debt of ₹3 lakh crore from the previous governments.
In a statement, Cheema said, “We have to pay thousands of crores as interest on debt of about ₹3 lakh crore that was taken by the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party combine and Congress governments in the past. Despite repaying the loan installment and interest, the AAP government is doing good work for the welfare of the people of Punjab.”
The AAP government had written to the governor seeking his intervention for the release of rural development funds (RDF) and in reply, the latter had told the CM to wait for the decision of the Supreme Court (SC) on the matter.
Responding to the governor’s reply, Cheema said, “CM Bhagwant Mann has met the Union minister and demanded this (RDF). But because of no response from the Centre, the Punjab government was forced to approach the SC.”
Cheema also reminded the governor that the Punjab government had to go to the SC even to call the budget session. He said if the governor talks to the Centre and gets the RDF funds, then the Punjab government will withdraw its petition from the SC.
He further said works related to rural development have been hit due to the funds not being released. “If the governor is really concerned about Punjab, then he should fulfill his duty towards the state and talk to the Centre and help the Punjab government get the pending amount of RDF, which is about ₹5,000 crore,” said Cheema.
