Rural roads repair work hit due to non-release of RDF, says Agriculture minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian in question hour
Sultanpur Lodhi legislator raised the issue and said that many roads were damaged in his constituency during last year’s floods and are in urgent need of repairs.
Agriculture minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian on Monday said that owing to the non-release of rural development fund (RDF) by the Centre, the repairs of rural roads have been delayed.
Khudian reply came to a question raised by Congress MLA from Sultanpur Lodhi Rana Inder Partap Singh, who flagged the issue of damaged roads in his constituency during question hour in the ongoing budget session.
Sultanpur Lodhi legislator said that many roads were damaged in his constituency during last year’s floods and are in urgent need of repairs.
“Farmers in my constituency suffered heavy losses due to damage to crops during last year’s floods and the roads were also damaged badly. Neither the farmers have been compensated for the crop loss nor the damaged roads repaired,” the MLA said in the House.
Kapurthala Congress MLA Hardev Singh Laddi also raised a similar issue in the House.
Khudian accepted that the rural roads across the state are in urgent need of repairs, but due to the non-release of RDF, the repairs haven’t started yet.
The RDF accruals to the tune of ₹4,807 crore of the previous five crop seasons are pending to be released, he added.
In a supplementary question, Rana Inder asked the minister to arrange funds from other sources. Khudian said the government is in the process of arranging funds.
Speaking on the issue leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa asked how many meetings of Niti Aayog led by PM Narendra Modi has Punjab attended.
“In the aayog meeting, we could have at least taken up the matter with the PM,” he said.
Raising another issue, Aam Aadmi Party’s Patiala MLA Ajit Pal Singh Kohli sought the government’s action against squatters who are illegally occupying government houses in Patiala.
Reacting to it, PWD minister Harbhajan Singh ETO told the House that action has been initiated against nine illegal occupants, and a notice of eviction has been sent to another occupier.
According to Kohli, there are 724 government-built houses and kothis in Patiala and a large number of them have been occupied illegally, and in some cases, businessmen from nearby towns have been occupying those houses.