Foodgrain mismatch between Punjab, FCI since 1997: Sukhbir

MULLANPUR DAKHA/LUDHIANA: Amid row over missing foodgrains worth Rs 12,000 crore, Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday said that his father and chief minister Parkash Singh Badal has met Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the issue of the cash credit limit, that has been stopped by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and that it would be released soon.
A controversy had erupted last week when the RBI told banks that nearly Rs 21,000 crore cash credit given to Punjab may not be recoverable as the Parkash Singh Badal government's claims on foodgrains supplied to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) have been found doubtful.
Badal junior said that since the year 1997, the accounts of Punjab government and FCI have not been matched, due to which there is some confusion regarding the matter.
"The CM has met the Prime Minister to put forward the point of Punjab government before him, after which the PM assured that the matching of accounts would take place simultaneously and the cash credit limit would be issued by the Reserve Bank of India so that there is no problem in procurement of wheat crop," said Badal junior.
He made these comments while addressing a function to mark the Bhagat Puran Singh Health Insurance Scheme, organised at a private marriage palace on Ferozepur Road.
He said that Shiromani Akali Dal and its allies are committed for overall development of Punjab.
"But opponents are using all kinds of unfair means by distorting image of the state government," said Badal.