Chandigarh: The coffers of the Punjab Mandi Board are draining empty due to which the loan borrowed for the ‘loan waiver’ of the farmers has become a challenge.

The central government is running away from releasing funds of about Rs 2,872 crore of rural development fund to Punjab. In these circumstances, it has become difficult for the Mandi Board to repay the loan of Rs 4,000 crore that was taken in 2018 in lieu of the Rural Development Fund.

In such a situation, the work of repairing the link roads of the state has come to a standstill.

According to details, during the Congress regime, Captain Amarinder Singh had taken a loan of about Rs 4,000 crore from banks in lieu of rural development fund (RDF) for loan waiver and waived loans worth Rs 4,624 crore of 5.64 lakh farmers.

The Mandi Board had spent Rs 9.36 crore on the event held in Punjab in this regard. As long as the RDF was received from the Centre, the Mandi Board continued to pay the loan instalments.

The central government has withheld the rural development fund money of three crops, due to which the mandi board has become difficult to repay the loan. In the month of June this Year also the Mandi board had taken money from the Punjab government and now on December 31 another Rs 1,000 Crore is required.

Sources said that the mandi board’s treasury is empty and the government has also not given any more money for it. If the rural development fund is not released in the next year also, then the mandi board can be declared a defaulter by the banks.

It is learnt that the Centre has asked Punjab to cut the RDF rate by 50 per cent. Link roads in Punjab are in a bad shape due to the stoppage of rural development funds. There are about 65,000 km of link roads in Punjab, which are being repaired by the Punjab Mandi Board.

According to the details received, by March 31, 2022, 4500 km of link roads in Punjab had become repairable.

By March 31 next year, 5,500 km of roads will be ready for further repairs. In this regard, after three months, about 10,000 kilometers of link roads will need to be repaired, for which funds of about Rs 1500 crore are required.

The new government, on the other hand, is yet to repair roads in the state. The Punjab Mandi Board has assets worth about Rs 7,500 crore under infrastructure in the state.

Govt will pay off debt: Minister Dhaliwal

Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said that the previous government had taken a loan on the Rural Development Fund and the Rural Development Fund was deliberately withheld by the Central Government, due to which there was a problem in repaying the loan installment.

He said that the interest has been paid for it. If the funds are not received from the Centre, the government will make the payment from itself in January. The repair work of the roads has been stalled due to the centre’s behaviour.

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