June 12, 2014 | By Sikh Siyasat Bureau
New Delhi, India (June 12, 2014): As per information Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today met Indian Finance and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley. CM Badal sought a special Financial Package for the state including the reimbursement of Rs 2694 crore already repaid out of Special Term Loan besides waiver of Rs 298 crore being demanded by the Ministry of Home Affairs on count of expenditure incurred on Para Military forces deployed during the period of armed Sikh struggle from 1980 to 1995 in the state.
During an interaction with Arun Jaitley, the Chief Minister also requested him to release an amount of Rs 5000 crore as non plan grant for the current financial year till the 14th Finance Commission’s report was out. Likewise, he also urged Jaitley to immediately intervene in the settlement of outstanding dues of nearly Rs 10000 crore of state procurement agencies pending with FCI since long time. Badal also asked Jaitley to constitute an empowered committee in this regard to resolve this long pending issue once for all.
Seeking waiver of conditions imposed by the 13th Finance Commission on the resetting of interest on small saving loans, the Chief Minister urged Jaitley to be reworked at 9% instead of 9.5% and 10%. He also impressed upon Jaitley for waiver of the centre government loans in view of state’s distressed financial position. Badal pointed out that the 13th Finance Commission had already placed the states of Punjab, Kerala and West Bengal in the category of Revenue Deficit states and it recommended to the Union government to find out ways and means to bail out these states from financial stringency. Now the Government of India (GoI) has again referred this vital issue to the 14th Finance Commission.
Seeking Ministry of Defense’s clearance for international flights from Chandigarh airport, the Chief Minister urged Jaitley to accord speedy approvals in this behalf to cater the heavy rush of passengers going to Delhi for boarding such flights. He also sought permission for opening civil air terminals at Air force stations Adampur in Jalandhar and Halwara in Ludhiana.
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Related Topics: Arun Jaitley, Parkash Singh Badal