Thaindian News

Chandigarh, Oct 19 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal Tuesday denied that there was any concrete proposal from the central government on waiving the state’s nearly Rs.35,000 crore loan.

“There is no truth in the claim that the centre has made any concrete proposals regarding the loan waiver,” Badal said here.

Badal said that he had also written to the central government regarding the waiver but has not received any satisfactory reply so far.

“I had written to the union finance minister asking for details about the report of a committee that was set up on the recommendations of the finance commission to study the debt of several states, including Punjab,” he said, adding they had neither received a copy of the committee’s report nor any other communication specifying the central government’s stand on the issue.

Attacking the central government, Badal said it “must stop acting like a blood sucking money lender. It is using finances to extract every pound of flesh from the states, virtually pushing them to the brink of death or suicide”.

Recently, Finance Minister Manpreet Badal, who is Badal’s nephew, was sacked from the council of ministers following a controversy over Manpreet’s stand on a Rs.35,000 crore conditional debt waiver being offered by the central government to Punjab to help tide the state’s Rs.70,000 crore debt.