Rs 1,000-cr jolt to Punjab as Centre ‘ends’ RDF, slashes MDF on wheat and paddy
The central government has now reduced Market Development Fee to 2% and Rural Development Fee to 0% in the provisional cost sheet for wheat procurement issued to the state government.
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The Centre has been paying Punjab the statutory charges (RDF and MDF) to the tune of 6 per cent on MSP of wheat and paddy at the rate of 3 per cent each. (File photo) The Centre Thursday removed the Rural Development Fee (RDF) and slashed the Market Development Fee (MDF) by one per cent in the provisional cost sheet for wheat procurement issued to the Punjab government, prompting a sharp reaction from Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann who said the state will lose Rs 1,000 crore and asked the political leaders who have joined the BJP in the recent past if they “have the courage to take up this matter” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Punjab has been levying 3 per cent each RDF and market fee, termed as statutory charges, on the minimum support price of wheat and paddy.
Three months ago Union Food and Public Distribution Minister Piyush Goyal had written to Mann asking him to bring down the statutory charges to only up to 2 per cent of the MSP.
ਭਾਜਪਾ ਦਾ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਵਿਰੋਧੀ ਤੇ ਕਿਸਾਨ ਵਿਰੋਧੀ ਚਿਹਰਾ ਨੰਗਾ ..ਸਾਡੀਆਂ ਕੋਸ਼ਿਸ਼ਾਂ ਦੇ ਬਾਵਜੂਦ ਇਸ ਹਾੜੀ ਸੀਜਨ ਚ ਮਾਰਕੀਟ ਫ਼ੀਸ 3% ਤੋਂ ਘਟਾ ਕੇ 2% ਕਰ ਦਿੱਤੀ ਅਤੇ RDF 3% ਤੋਂ 0% ਕੀਤਾ …ਪੰਜਾਬ ਦਾ ਨੁਕਸਾਨ 250 ਕਰੋੜ ਮਾਰਕੀਟ ਫ਼ੀਸ ਤੇ 750 ਕਰੋੜ RDF ਕੁੱਲ 1000 ਕਰੋੜ
ਕੈਪਟਨ,ਜਾਖੜ, ਮਨਪੀੑਤ ਬਾਦਲ,ਬੈਂਸ ਭਰਾ.ਰਾਣਾ…— Bhagwant Mann (@BhagwantMann) May 4, 2023
Punjab procures wheat and paddy worth roughly Rs 66,000 crore per year. It earns Rs 3,600 crore on account of RDF and MDF annually. In the just concluded Rabi marketing season, the Punjab government has estimated wheat procurement worth Rs 30,000 crore.
“Despite our efforts, the market fee has been reduced from 3 per cent to 2 per cent and RDF from 3 per cent to 0 per cent in this Rabi season…Punjab will lose Rs 250 crore in market fee and Rs 750 crore in RDF, (which is a) total Rs 1,000 crore,” Mann said in a tweet.
“Do Captain (Amarinder Singh), (Sunil) Jakhar, Manpreet Badal, Bains brothers (Simarjeet Singh Bains, Balwinder Bains), Rana (Gurmit Singh) Sodhi, (Gurpreet Singh) Kangar, Fateh Jung Bajwa, Inder (Iqbal Singh) Atwal, who became new BJP members, have the courage to take up this matter with Modi ji,” he asked.
Former CM Amarinder Singh, Sunil Jakhar, Manpreet Badal, Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, Gurpreet Singh Kangar, Fateh Jung Bajwa had joined the BJP after quitting the Congress. Similarly, Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal, who is the BJP candidate for the May 10 Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll, shifted to the saffron party from the Shiromani Akali Dal. Lok Insaaf Party chief Simarjeet Bains has announced to support the BJP in the Jalandhar bypoll.
The Centre is yet to clear Rs 2,880 crore towards the RDF. Mann has met Goyal twice in Delhi urging him to clear the pending dues from the wheat season of rabi marketing season (RMS) 2021-22. Earlier, the Centre had withheld the RDF and restricted it to 1 per cent in the provisional cost sheet.
In a statement, Mann said the AAP leaders have been asking the Centre to clear the pending RDF payment. “This money is used for the development of rural areas of the state. But the BJP-led central government kept denying Punjab its money, and now on top of that, this Rabi season they reduced market fee and robbed Punjab of another Rs 250 crore,” he said.
“The Modi government has been working against Punjab and its farmers because of its defeat during the farmers’ movement. Today, the Centre has again shown its bitterness towards Punjab and the farmers by brazenly refusing to give Rs 1,000 crore to the state,” alleged Mann. He said the Modi government should know that Punjab and the state’s farmers have made the country food sufficient. “But in return what has the Centre ever done for Punjab and our farmers,” he asked.
Earlier, Goyal, in his letter to Chief Minister’s Office on January 9, had stated that while the Centre is considering clearing the dues, the state should consider revising the levies. He had stated that he had the matter examined and the Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD), Government of India, had already allowed 2 per cent market fee in the cost sheet for rabi marketing season (RMS) 2022-2023 and the matter for allowing of rest 1 per cent of market fee was under consideration in the department. The matter regarding allowance of RDF at 3 per cent of MSP was also under consideration in the department as per rules, he had said.
Earlier, the Centre had asked the state to give details on where it was spending the RDF and MDF. It had also asked the state to amend its Agriculture Produce Market Committee Act as it did not want the state to spend the RDF on farm loan waivers and subsidies. The state amended the Act also. But yet the Centre has not given its dues and rather refused to pay any RDF in future now.
On December 8 last year, Mann met Goyal and said that RDF is payable to Punjab Rural Development Board as per section 7 of Punjab Rural Development Act 1987, at the rate of 3 per cent of MSP. He said that RDF has been paid on regular basis since 1987 till RMS 2020-21 as per the rate notified by the state government till RMS 2020-21. He said that the purpose of this fund is basically to promote the agriculture and rural infrastructure which ultimately add to the overall development of agriculture viz rural road network, marketing infrastructure, augmentation of storage facility, land record computerization, automation, mechanization of mandis and others.
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