DW BUREAU / Chandigarh The Punjab Rural development, NRI affairs and Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal today met the Union Minister of State for Rural Development Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti at the Agriculture Bhawan here today regarding important issues related to Punjab which included release of MGNREGA outstanding funds, approval of state goals under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and development of rural areas. Interacting with the media after the meeting, Kuldeep Dhaliwal said that out of the outstanding 450 crore rupees of material liabilities related to the development works done under the MGNREGA scheme in Punjab, 188 crore rupees were released by the Center on September 5. He has requested the Union Minister to release the remaining 262 crore rupees soon. Similarly, he has appealed to increase the administrative expenditure fund of MGNREGA from 6 percent to 8 percent. 'The Union Minister of State has assured to release remaining funds soon and redress the other issues positively', added Dhaliwal. Dhaliwal said that no separate target was allocated to the state for the financial year 2022-23 under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin, therefore he has raised the demand to allot the target of 25000 houses for the financial year 2023-24 so that houses can be provided to the homeless, poor and needy families of the state and release funds under PMAY-Gramin. Punjab Rural Development Minister brought to the notice of the union State Minister some conditions under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana are not suitable for the state of Punjab due to which many beneficiaries are left out of its ambit. He has appealed to the Union Minister to relax some of the conditions in these schemes as per the requirements of the state. Dhaliwal briefed the Union Minister during the meeting that for the financial year 2022-23, the Centre Government has approved a budget of 4644 lakh rupees for Punjab State Rural Ajeevka scheme, out of which released 477.68 lakh rupees as the first installment for the SC component, while 683.42 lakh rupees are yet to be released for the general component. Dhaliwal said that during the meeting, Union Minister of State Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti assured to redress these demands of Punjab on priority basis. During the meeting, other aspects related to the rural development of the state were also discussed. (editor@dailyworld.in)