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Badal seeks PM’s intervention to end Central grain pool dispute
Sarbjit Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service

“Though the state government has submitted all required bills and balance sheets to the Centre, the issue remains unsettled even after so many years,” said a senior Punjab government official. “As such issues have to be resolved at political level, the CM has requested the PM to intervene and set up a committee to settle the issue,” he said. The Centre has been objecting to releasing the second installment worth Rs 10,000 crore of cash credit limit (CCL), which is required to clear the payment to farmers in lieu of “No payment has been made for the past two weeks,” said a commission agent from Khanna. He said the agents were facing heat as farmers were seeking advance against paddy procurement. “We are in a difficult situation,” he said.

Sunil Jakhar, Leader of the Congress Legislative Party, has urged the CM to call an emergency session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha before November 10 to discuss the issue of payment to farmers.

He said cotton and paddy prices had gone down by 25-30 per cent as compared to last year. The state agencies had not been able to make payment against purchase of paddy for the past three weeks as funds were not available. The situation, he said, depicted fiscal emergency. He blamed the “infighting between the SAD and the BJP for the current mess in the state”.

Jakhar said the alliance government in Punjab had approached the Central Government well before the paddy season began, but the Finance Ministry approved the cash credit limit for Rs 8,000 crore only. He alleged that the BJP leadership seemed to be all out to teach a lesson to the SAD for “neglecting” the saffron party ministers in the state and its alliance with the Indian National Lok Dal in Haryana.

He said the Finance Ministry was following instructions from the top brass to force Punjab to pay long-pending debt of Rs 45,000 crore.

Sources said Kairon would also meet Union Food and Civil Supplies Minister Ram Bilas Paswan to discuss with him fiscal and other matters related to procurement of paddy.

Kairon meets Jaitley

* Punjab Food and Supply Minister Adesh Partap Singh Kairon (pic) on Wednesday met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi to get Rs 10,000 cr released as second installment of the Cash Credit Limit

* He reportedly told Jaitley that farmers had not been paid for the past two weeks

Oppn demands special Assembly session

Sunil Jakhar, Leader of the Congress Legislative Party, has urged the Chief Minister to convene an emergency session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha before November 10 to discuss the payment to farmers