Finance Commission forms panel to resolve Punjab's Rs 31,000 crore food account issue

In a major fillip to Punjab's persistent efforts for securing the waiver of Rs 31,000 crore food account, Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission N K Singh on Wednesday said the issue could not be brushed under the carpet, and formed a committee to find ways of settling the matter. An official statement quoted Singh, saying that the committee under the Finance Commission, with the Centre, the State, and the FCI, would explore all possibilities, given its terms of reference and constitutional propriety, to settle the festering problem. The chairman also assured Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh of all possible support to revive Punjab's fiscal health and socio-economic development, while promising to look into all aspects of debt waiver to help the state's distressed farmers. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister lamented that FCI was not pitching in the procurement operations in the state, whose godowns were full, leaving no space for storing the next crop. He also pointed out ...