The Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government on Tuesday said that it is moving the Supreme Court on the issue of the Rural Development Fund (RDF) amounting to Rs 3,600 crore, which it claims has been withheld by the Union government for the last two years, reports The Indian Express.
The Chief Minister had earlier urged the Centre to release the RDF, and said that the government would move the top court if the central government continues to “withhold” the fund.
The state had decided to make a case that the RDF is levied under an Act and the purchaser can’t refuse to pay this tax.
The CM had also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Food and Civil Supplies Minister Piyush Goyal for the issue of the fee. The Punjab Mandi Board has defaulted on the loan repayment in the absence of the payment.
On June 20, the Punjab Assembly had passed a resolution over the Centre “withholding” the fund, warning the Centre that it would move the Supreme Court if the money was not released in a week.
“This House recommends to the state government to approach the central government for the release of withheld RDF amounting to Rs 3,622.40 crore immediately so as to continue with the uninterrupted developmental activities for the welfare of farmers and rural population of Punjab,” the resolution stated.
“Due to non-release of the Rural Development Fee for the last four seasons — Kharif market season 2021-22, Rabi market season 2022-23, Kharif market season 2022-23 and Rabi market season 2023-24 by the Government of India, the rural development works of Punjab are being adversely affected,” it further stated.
Mann had said that everyone knows that the BJP-led union government was targeting the non-BJP governments in the country, and accused it of not allowing them to work smoothly.