New Delhi: Punjab's Chief Minister, Bhagwant Mann, announced on Saturday that his government is considering taking legal action to seek the Rural Development Fund dues worth Rs 3,000 crore from the Central government, as reported by PTI.
He made this announcement after declaring the closure of a toll plaza on the Kiratpur Sahib-Nangal-Una road, as per an official release.
Mann said the state government was exploring the possibility of moving the court to seek the dues from the Centre.
He alleged that the Union government was "unnecessarily harassing" the state by stalling the release of Rs 3,000 crore dues under the Rural Development Fund (RDF).
Mann said the state government had completed all the formalities but the Centre was deliberately stalling the release of the amount.
Last month, the chief minister raised the issue of the release of RDF dues with Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav.
Addressing a workshop on effective paddy straw management, he sought the intervention of Yadav to raise the issue at the appropriate forum.
In December last year, Mann sought the release of Rs 3,095 crore of RDF and market development fee.
Meanwhile, the manhunt to nab pro-Khalistani supporter and Waris De chief Amrilpal Singh is still underway in Punjab.
Amritpal has been absconding since a police crackdown on his outfit ‘Waris Punjab De’ on March 18. He, however, appeared in two purported videos and an audio clip released on social media.
Yesterday, a CCTV footage surfaced online purportedly showing Papalpreet Singh, a close aide of the radical preacher, in a “dera” in a village in Punjab's Hoshiarpur.
The crackdown on the ‘Waris Punjab De’ chief was launched three weeks after his supporters stormed a police station in Ajnala to secure the release of an arrested man.
Amritpal and his associates have been booked in several criminal cases related to spreading disharmony among classes, attempt to murder, attack on police personnel and creating obstructions in the lawful discharge of duty by public servants.