RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi and urged him to release the state’s revenue share pending with the Centre in the form of Rs 1375 crore GST and Rs 4170 crore coal levy.
The chief minister also urged the Prime Minister to direct the SECL for an agreement with the state’s nodal agency for an uninterrupted supply of coal to local industrial units and to not cancel the passenger trains running through the state unless an alternative is there, an official spokesman said.
Informing Modi about the Millet Mission being run in the state, Baghel told PM that Chhattisgarh produces millets in abundance, in response to which the Prime Minister appreciated it and told the chief minister to open a Millet Café in the state capital Raipur. The support price of Kodo Kutki has been declared Rs 3000 per quintal in the state and the country's first millet bank has been started here where 22 types of millets are produced.
Baghel also requested the Prime Minister for the Centre’s assistance to improve various civic amenities in the state.
Baghel said that the recovery of additional levy from the coal blocks cancelled by the Supreme Court in 2014 has been done by the Central Government. The Central Government has been requested several times to transfer the amount of Rs 4170 crores recovered from the coal blocks of Chhattisgarh state, said Baghel.
Baghel informed the Prime Minister about the fuel crisis faced by the sponge iron and steel industries of the state for the last six months due to the supply shortage of coal from the SECL. He urged the PM to ask the SECL to make an agreement with the state nodal agency for a continuous supply of coal to the industries of the state.
Taking up the issue of trains being cancelled frequently, Baghel said that the Howrah-Mumbai train route is like a lifeline for the state of Chhattisgarh, but this year a large number of passenger trains have been stopped by the Railways from time to time. Unless alternative arrangements are made, trains should not be cancelled as middle and lower-class people have to face a lot of inconvenience due to the suspension/cancellation of trains.
