New Delhi, November 3
Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seek relief of Rs 5,100 crore for damage suffered by the state due to drought and floods this year.
The Chief Minister also urged the Prime Minister to waive pending debt of Rs 3,772 crore that was part of security expenditure incurred during the days of terrorism.
Later, the Chief Minister said the state had incurred an expenditure of about Rs 13,000 crore in fighting terrorism and the Centre had still not waived a debt of Rs 3,772 crore in this connection despite assurances by successive Prime Ministers.
The Chief Minister’s meeting with the Prime Minister is a follow-up of a memorandum sent by the state earlier in which it explained how farmers had suffered due to drought and floods. The state is also seeking compensation for the expenses incurred in subsidising power to the agriculture sector.
The Chief Minister said next sowing season was to start soon and the state needed assistance from the Centre to help its farmers.
He said the Prime Minister had sent state’s demand for relief of Rs 5100 crore to the Agriculture Ministry and the demand for waiver of “security-related” debt to Home Ministry.
To a question, he said the issue of the appointment of new Governor in the state was not discussed at his meeting with the Prime Minister. Capt Amarinder Singh said he had sought an appointment with Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
The Chief Minister is going to Bangalore on November 6 to attract investment in Information Technology. He said the state had attracted an investment of Rs 6,380 crore since April this year and the figure was likely to go up to Rs 10,000 crore before the end of this fiscal.
