In a major sigh of relief for the SAD-BJP led Punjab Government, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday sanctions a cash credit limit (CCl) worth Rs17,523 crore for wheat procurement in the State.
Earlier, the country’s central bank and regulator, RBI, has decided to hold back Rs20,000 CCl the Punjab Government sought for wheat procurement, following revelations of massive stocks of food grain, that Punjab procures, going missing from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns in the State.
The development assumes significance as the state’s farmers have not been paid even a single penny for their procured crop even after 20 days of the commencement of procurement process from April 1.
The sanction to the CCl came days after Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had met the Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a request for issuing the same. It has been learnt that Badal had also clarified the State Government stand on the issue of missing food grains.
The RBI had decided to delay the CCl sanction considering a huge gap between the existing stocks and the money shown to have been spent on the procurement. The gap is reported to be increasing every year, especially under the SAD-BJP coalition Government which has been in power since 2007.
Notably, the value of physical food stocks in the godowns should match with the money Centre releases through the banks for procurement of food grains under the sanctioned CCl.