Punjab Cabinet approves ordinance ensuring RDF be spent on mandis-related infra in rural areas

The Punjab Cabinet approved an ordinance on Wednesday to ensure that the state's rural development fund (RDF) be used only on facilities related to mandis in rural areas. The fund is collected on foodgrain purchases, as per PTI reported.

The Punjab Rural Development (Amendment) Ordinance, 2022 was approved by the Cabinet at a meeting headed by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

According to an official spokesperson, the Punjab Rural Development Act, 1987 will be amended in line with the revised principles laid down by the Department of Food and Public Distribution, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Government of India on February 24, 2020, said PTI.

The move arose when the central government withheld the RDF, instructing the state government to use it only for rural infrastructure development.

Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, speaking to the media after the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, accused the previous Congress and Akali governments in the state of misusing the RDF, said PTI.

"Be it Akali or Congress governments, they misused the RDF. After that, the Government of India stopped the release of RDF to the state," Cheema said.

"Today the Cabinet has decided to bring an ordinance in this regard," said Cheema while terming it a 'big decision' of the AAP-led government in the state.

He stated that the funds raised through the RDF will only be used for infrastructure linked to mandis in rural areas. Cheema expressed the hope that the Centre would transfer Rs 1,100 crore in RDF to the state once the law takes effect.

According to PTI, Punjab charges a 3% RDF on the purchase of food grains. Punjab, in particular, had been employing the RDF for purposes other than rural development. The SAD-BJP regime used the RDF funds to fund the 'Sangat Darshan' programmes of then-chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, while Congress used it to fund its farm loan waiver scheme.

The RDF will be used for a variety of projects in rural areas, including the construction or repair of approach roads to mandis and procurement centres, the establishment of new mandis or procurement centres, the provision of drinking water, and improving sanitation in the mandis, according to the spokesperson.

The funds will also be utilised to build well-equipped rest houses or night shelters, as well as sheds for farmers and labourers involved in procurement, said PTI.

Similarly, the RDF would be used to supplement storage facilities in mandis to store stocks, provide relief to debt-stressed farmers to eliminate the possibility of distress sales, develop hardware or software related to procurement or land record linking, conduct crop surveys, and facilitate procurement activities, among other things.

According to the spokesperson, it will be utilised for automation and mechanisation of mandis with facilities for cleaning, sorting, drying, assessing grain quality, small shipping silo, bag sacking, and sewing, as well as other functions that may contribute to mandis strengthening, PTI said.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet has approved the direct recruitment of 145 sub-divisional engineers, junior engineers, junior draftsperson, and steno typists in the water supply and sanitation department through the Punjab Public Service Commission and Subordinate Service Selection Board within a year.

The Cabinet also authorised a step to help update existing Bharatnet infrastructure to connect all gram panchayats to the national broadband network under the Centre's Bharatnet scheme, according to the spokesperson, said PTI.

It was in response to a prior memorandum of agreement signed in April 2013 between the Indian government's department of telecommunications and the state government.

According to the spokesperson, the state government is committed to making e-governance, e-health, e-education, e-banking, internet, and other services more accessible to rural areas by developing a highly scalable network infrastructure that is non-discriminatory, PTI said.