Pending RDF: Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit writes back to CM Bhagwant Mann, asks him to wait for SC decision

In Friday’s letter, the Governor not only indicated that he would not intervene but also posed another query to the CM seeking details of Rs 50,000 crore added to the debt of the state in Mann’s tenure. He said, “I have learnt that the debt of Punjab rose by about 50,000 crore during your regime. Details of utilisation of this huge amount may be furnished to me so that I will be able to convince the Prime Minister that the money has been properly utilised.”

Governor Purohit said, “I would like to convey that I am duty bound to serve the people of Punjab. I have learnt from media reports that you have already approached the Honourable Supreme Court of India before approaching me. It would be appropriate to wait for the decision of the highest court before anything is done on the issue.”

Mann had written to the Governor seeking his intervention to get the pending amount from the Centre in the form of RDF. The CM had written this letter after responding to the Governor’s earlier letters. The CM’s letter did not mention that the state had already moved the SC on the issue.

Mann had stated that with the Centre withholding the RDF, the Mandi Board was not able to repay loans taken for development works. He had stated that the state was procuring grains for the Centre and was levying Rural Development Fee from the Centre.

With Friday’s letter, the Governor has again raised a question of utilisation of Rs 50,000 crore that the government may find difficult to answer as it has been saying that there is no dearth of money with the state exchequer.

The correspondence between the Governor and CM Mann has restarted after a couple of weeks. The last time, the Governor had threatened the CM of writing to the President of India for imposing President’s rule in the state. He had stated that Mann was not responding to any questions raised by him and this was unconstitutional.

As the confrontation between the duo escalated, the Governor had stopped writing letters to the CM. Mann had then started responding to his earlier letters amid reports of a thaw in the relationship.