Rajya Sabha member Vikramjit Singh Sahney on Friday appealed to all the members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha from Punjab to call upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting his intervention to release the pending Rural Development Fund (RDF) to Punjab.
Sahney stated that this should not be viewed from a political angle. “For several decades, Punjab had been getting 3% RDF and 3% market fee as a non-decentralised procurement state, which contributes 100% of the food grains towards the central pool,” he said, adding that a sum of ₹4,200 crore for four past procurements is pending. “As mandated by the Centre, the state legislative assembly amended the Rural Development Act, in July last, specifying the usage of the fund. Now there should not be any technical hitch in the release of the funds,” he suggested.