As Punjab's Cash Credit Limit deadline nears, Centre dithers on paying Rs 1,300 cr dues

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 9

The government is racing against time to get its dues of Rs 1,300 crore released by the Centre before the state’s Cash Credit Limit (CCL) of Rs 24,600 crore for the just-concluded rabi marketing season ends.

The Centre owes the state Rs 1,300 crore to settle the account, which will make the state eligible for the next CCL for the upcoming paddy season. If the CCL for the wheat remains unsettled by the end of this month, the state will not be able to get CCL for paddy that will be harvested in September.

With this plea, the state government has been repeatedly knocking at the door of the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. The decision to withhold the dues of the state comes after the Centre refused to pay the Rural Development Fund to the state, claimed as a statutory charge by the state for procuring foodgrain for the Centre. The state was allowed to charge just one per cent RDF, while two per cent was withheld by the Centre, leading to the state losing Rs 1,720 crore as RDF for 2020 paddy season and for 2021 wheat season.

Many in the ruling Congress as well as the government believe that the two issues are directly linked to the ongoing farmers’ agitation against the three central farm laws.

Sources told The Tribune that the Centre has withheld Rs 1,300 crore, saying the direct transfer of MSP for wheat to farmers was not flawless. The commission paid to the lakhs of commission agents, too, has not been cleared by the Centre, though the state government has already paid this commission to the agents.

Shortage of gunny bags looms again

• Amid gunny bag shortage during wheat purchase, the government has approached the Centre to sanction buying of 5.30 lakh bales, but allowed to buy just 3.25 lakh
• “We have sought permission to procure ‘once used’ bags to tide over the shortage, but even this is taking time, leaving us with little time to procure bags,” said a senior government officer