Giving a further push to the various welfare schemes, including the centrally sponsored schemes, the Punjab government led by Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday released more funds to clear various pending payments with the assurance that paucity of funds will not be allowed to obstruct development.The government has released funds to the tune of Rs.1220.99 crore, with the Chief Minister directing all departments to mobilize adequate resources through prudent fiscal management to ensure clearance of pending payments on priority, said an official spokesperson.The spokesperson said that retirement benefits had been cleared till December 31, 2017, with the release of Rs. 413.77 crore, while Rs. 43.73 crore had been released towards reimbursement of medical bills upto March 20, 2018. All payments of GPF advances amounting to Rs.147.49 crore of existing employees had been cleared upto December 31, 2017.Apart from these, the state government has also cleared pending bills of rent, POL, electricity, office expenses etc. worth Rs.119.38 crore till December 31, 2017. A sum of Rs.69 crore has been cleared under Ashirwad Scheme upto December 31, 2017.Similarly, Rs.46.98 crore has been paid under NABARD for the execution of various ongoing development schemes across the state till March 20, 2018. A sum of Rs. 40 crore and Rs. 22.23 crore had been released for strengthening/development the infrastructure in the Police department and the Judiciary respectively, said the spokesperson.
Further, funds to the tune of Rs.5.53 crore had been released for video conferencing in courts and Rs.7.34 crore for the projects being undertaken by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. Payment of honorarium worth Rs. 6.57 crore had also been made to the Nambardars upto March 20, 2018.Under the centrally sponsored schemes, a sum of Rs.52.62 crore had been released for Central Road Fund (CRF), besides Rs.50 crore each for Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY). An amount of Rs. 32.64 crore had been released under National Health Mission (NHM), Rs.25 crore for National Education Mission (NEM), and Rs.16.53 crore for Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), said the spokesperson.A sum of Rs. 8.11 crore had been released for implementation of projects under Border Area Development, Rs.3.20 crore for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Urban), Rs.1.56 crore for National Rural Drinking Water Mission, Rs. 1.22 crore for White Revolution, Rs.1.01 crore for Shyama Parasad Mukharji Urban Mission and Rs.10 lakh for National Social Assistance Programme.Payment to the tune of Rs.56.98 crore had also been made for Grant-in-Aid to State Health Society AYUSH; Integrated Project to address Water-logging problem; RAMSA: Implementation of Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme.