Punjab social justice, empowerment and minorities minister Baljit Kaur has urged the Centre to immediately release ₹583 crore for timely completion of ongoing development projects.
Addressing a high-level meeting in Delhi with the Union ministers, Kaur said Punjab has a Scheduled Caste population of nearly 32%, which may have further increased. Given this demographic, she said the gap-filling fund, currently set at ₹20 lakh per project for villages under the Adarsh Gram Yojana, needs to be increased to at least ₹1 crore, as the existing allocation is insufficient for comprehensive infrastructure development, particularly for road construction.
Kaur also sought autonomy for the states to select the villages for development projects, stating that they have better knowledge of the ground realities.
The minister also urged the Centre to relax the existing requirement that 75% of the previous installment has to be utilised before new funds are released, as this often causes delays in implementation.
Another key demand was an increase in financial assistance for beneficiaries, from ₹50,000 to ₹1,00,000, as the current amount is inadequate compared to other schemes, such as the Pradhan Mantri Employment Generation Scheme.
She highlighted that 3,293 villages were selected for development projects, with a total due amount of ₹684 crore. However, only ₹61 crore has been received from the Government of India so far, including ₹40 crore just two months ago, limiting the coverage to only 365 villages.