Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Sunday wrote to Union minister for consumer affairs, food and public distribution Piyush Goyal seeking release ofrural development fund(RDF) at 3% of the minimum support price (MSP) amounting to Rs 54.64 per quintal for 2020-21 kharif Marketing season instead of 1% according to the revised provisional cost sheet issued by the ministry.
The chief minister termed the unilateral reduction in rate of RDF as violative of the federal structure as well as the statutory provisions as per Section 5 of Punjab Rural Development Act, 1987. The had on March 17 submitted details of RDF receipt and expenditure during 2018-19 to 2020-21 as per information sought by the department of food and public distribution (DFPD). The 2020-21 kharif marketing season started from October 1, 2020, and would end on September 30.
As the Punjab government has been attacking the central government for withholding its 2% RDF amounting to Rs 800 crore, the Centre had apprised Lok Sabha on March 16 that the RDF has been withheld because the state government was using it for the purposes not fully in line with the revised principles on February 24 last year.