Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday sought personal intervention of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for immediate settlement of Rs.31,000 crore of Food Account on procurement of Wheat and Paddy, which was wrongly taken over by the erstwhile state government instead of being adjusted between state & central governments.
Taking up this issue with Arun Jaitley, the Chief Minister, who met him here at former’s official residence this evening, apprised that the Rs.31,000 crore included Rs.12000 crore principal and thereon whooping interest of Rs.19000 crore has further burdened the already distressed fiscal position of the state. He also pointed out that the sum was on account of non-adjustment of accounts for procurement done by state agencies for FCI from 2003-2004 onwards.
Urging Union Finance Minister to immediately resolve this issue, Captain said that he had been pursuing the matter since taking over as Chief Minister and it was now pending for decision with the Union Finance Ministry. He also informed that the State was already facing an annual interest payment liability of Rs. 3240 crore and the total payoff might touch Rs. 65000 Crore over a 20 year payment period, which was totally untenable for the state.
Responding to the issue raised by the Chief Minister, Arun Jaitley assured the former that he would get this matter thoroughly examined and settled expeditiously. He also asked the Chief Minister to send a high level team of state officers led by Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal to discuss the entire matter with him. The Chief Minister was accompanied by Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh.
