Punjab CM Capt CM Amarinder Singh demands Centre to clear pending dues of Rs 31,000 crore

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday called on Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and demanded the Centre to clear outstanding payment of Rs 31,000 crore towards grains procurement and tax reimbursement.

Singh urged the centre for providing a concrete solution to tackle the rising interests on loans: 

"There were only two issues. One is Rs 31,000 crore is pending for a long time. The interest is mounting. If you don't come up with some solution, it will go up in the next 10 years to Rs 60,000 crore," Singh told the media

Besides, the Punjab Chief Minister also demanded that the central government should relax quality norms as the grains have lost their shine due to rains during the harvesting season. Punjab is the top state that contributes in a big way to the central pool. 

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Here's a tweet by Capt Singh which said that he met Union Minister of Consumer Affairs Ram Vilas Paswan and urged him to create additional storage space for food grains. The Punjab CM and the Union Minister agreed to hold a joint meeting over the Rs 31,000 crore food loan issue.

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In addition, Singh also met Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari to discuss the development of roads and highways in Punjab. The prospects for employment and industrialization through MSMEs were also discussed:

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(With PTI inputs)