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CHANDIGARH: Below ‘power’ from the Union govt, the AAP govt in Punjab on Wednesday amended the Rural Building Act in order that the agricultural construction fund (RDF) may well be claimed from the Centre for the paddy procurement season. The central govt had mandated the states to make amendments to specify the RDF utilization and forestall fund diversion for functions rather than construction works in rural spaces. The state cupboard licensed the Punjab Rural Building (Modification) Ordinance, 2022.
This determination was once taken throughout a cupboard assembly right here on the CMO. In consequence, the Punjab Rural Building Act, 1987 has been amended consistent with the revised ideas laid down by way of the Division of Meals and Public Distribution, Union Ministry of Shopper Affairs, Meals and Public Distribution on February 24, 2020.
It can be recalled that the Union govt vide its letter dated October 23, 2020 despatched the Provisional Price Sheet (PCS) for Kharif Advertising and marketing Season (KMS) 2020 by which it does no longer account for statutory dues of Rural Building Fund (RDF) calculated at @ 3 according to cent of MSP. Then again, the PCS supplies that “issues associated with deductions from MSP made by way of the state & usage of RD Price for the aim of construction of procurement centre are underneath scrutiny.”
An officer of the Leader Minister’s Place of job mentioned the RDF can be spent for the needs together with building or restore of means roads to mandis and procurement centres and boulevard lighting thereon enabling farmers in transportation in their produce, building and construction of latest mandis and construction of previous and katcha mandis and procurement centres, making preparations for provide of consuming water and for bettering sanitation within the mandis for offering smartly supplied leisure homes/evening shelters/sheds for farmers and labour engaged in procurement operations.
Likewise, RDF would even be spent for augmenting garage amenities in mandies to retailer procured shares so that you could support the procurement and advertising and marketing programs within the state, to supply aid to debt wired farmers of the state to get rid of any risk of misery sale, construction of {hardware}/tool associated with procurement and linking of land data, crop survey, bio- authentication of farmers on the mandi which would possibly toughen transparency and facilitate the procurement actions, Set up/Acquire of automatic digital weighbridge or weighment amenities, high quality checking out apparatus, sieving amenities within the mandi/procurement centres and its integration with e-procurement module, automation and mechanization of mandies with facility of cleansing, sorting, drying, inspecting high quality of grains, small delivery silo, bag sacking and sewing and for sporting out such functions which would possibly result in strengthening of mandies and procurement operations, he mentioned.
Final yr, the state govt had confident the Centre that it might usher in amendments within the Act in an effort to specifying the RDF utilization.