Date:14/02/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/02/14/stories/2006021414760500.htm

New Delhi

Amarinder for early clearance of development projects

Special Correspondent

Meets Chidambaram, Patil; also demands waiver of security-related expenditure

Seeks approval of the Rs.251-crore incentive for APDRP
Centre would sort out all issues: Finance Minister
CM also seeks Rs. 86.80 crores for implementing community-policing scheme

Punjab told to submit plan for border area programme

NEW DELHI: Punjab on Monday strongly urged the Centre to speed up approval of the Rs. 2900-crore World Bank-assisted projects for roads and water supply in the State. It said the projects consisted of Rs.1100-crore Punjab road sector and Rs.1819-crore Punjab rural water supply and sanitation pending with the World Bank and in the advanced stage of processing.

In a meeting with Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said the Central Department of Economic Affairs and the World Bank might be asked to permit the State Government to incur expenditure from its own resources from April 2006 that could be reimbursed later.

Power supply

He also requested the Union Finance Minister to approve the Rs.251-crore incentive for the Accelerated Power Development & Reform Programme (APDRP) for 2003-04 pending with the Centre. These funds would be used to strengthen the transmission and distribution system and implement the scheme to provide uninterrupted 24-hour domestic power supply to all the villages.

Pleading for a waiver of security-related expenditure incurred by the State Government during the period of militancy, Capt. Singh said the issue needed a fresh look in the spirit of the decision taken by the Centre earlier. He said the Government of India decided that the outstanding special term loans against Punjab amounting to Rs.3772 crore would be completely waived.

Sympathetic view

Responding to Capt. Singh's proposals, the Union Finance Minister assured him that the Central Government would take a sympathetic view and sort out all these issues at the earliest. Mr.Chidambaram said he would also take up the matter with the World Bank for early clearance of these projects.

Mr. Chidambaram also agreed to the proposal of allocation of Additional Market Borrowings to Punjab to compensate the shortfall in National Small Savings Fund (NSSF) Loans in 2005-06 to bridge the expected gap of Rs.995 crores in the NSSF loans to fully fund the annual plan 2005-06, a State Government release said.

The Chief Minister also met Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and sought Rs. 86.80 crores for implementing the community-policing scheme. He also requested the Centre to review the decision to post an AGMUT cadre IPS officer as SSP Chandigarh from April 1, instead of the current practice of having a Punjab-cadre IPS officer.

Mr. Patil said in response to the request for additional funds under the Border Area Development Programme in the wake of opening up the Wagah border with Pakistan, that the State submit a detailed proposal. The Home Minister said he would take up the issue of opening a visa centre at Amritsar for passengers travelling by the Amristar-Lahore and Amrtisar-Nankana Sahib buses to the External Affairs Ministry.

He also promised to accord priority in implementing community policing and modernisation or police forces programmes.