New Delhi:

Lakshman Prasad Acharya has been made the governor of Assam with the additional charge of Manipur while Gulab Chand Kataria has replaced Banwarilal Purohit as the governor of Punjab under major gubernatorial appointments, the Rashtrapati Bhavan has announced.

Acharya has replaced Kataria, who has also been appointed the administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh, according to a communique issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Saturday night.

President Droupadi Murmu has accepted the resignation of Purohit as the governor of Punjab and the administrator of Chandigarh, it said.

“Lakshman Prasad Acharya, Governor of Sikkim, appointed as Governor of Assam and has also been given additional charge of the Governor of Manipur,” the statement said.

Anusuiya Uikye has been serving as the governor of Manipur since February last year.

Veteran BJP leader Om Prakash Mathur will be the new governor of Sikkim, the communique said.

Jharkhand Governor C P Radhakrishnan, who was also holding additional charge of Telangana, has been appointed as the new governor of Maharashtra, succeeding incumbent Ramesh Bais.

Former Union Labour and Employment Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar will be the new Jharkhand governor in place of Radhakrishnan.

Former Deputy Chief Minister of Tripura, Jishnu Dev Varma, will be the new Telangana governor.

Former IAS officer K Kailashnathan, one of the trusted aides of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been appointed as Lt Governor of Puducherry with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office.

Kailashnathan, chief principal secretary to Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, stepped down on June 30 after holding the post for more than a decade after his retirement.

Senior BJP leader from Maharashtra Haribhau Kisanrao Bagde has been appointed the governor of Rajasthan, succeeding Kalraj Mishra.

Former Lok Sabha member from Assam Ramen Deka has been appointed as the Governor of Chhattisgarh, and C H Vijayashankar, the former Lok Sabha member from Mysore in Karnataka, will be Meghalaya governor, the communique said.

These appointments will take effect from the dates they will assume charge of their respective offices, the statement added. PTI AKV AKV GRS GRS GRS

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Chandigarh:

Punjab excise collections have increased by a whopping 37% in the past financial year, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has told Governor Banwarilal Purohit, detailing the sustained growth in revenue under the AAP government.

Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections have increased 16.6%, vehicle tax collection 13%, stamps and registration collection 28%, Mr Mann said in a letter to Mr Purohit on Tuesday.

The letter was in response to the Governor seeking details about of the utilisation of the Rs 50,000 crore funds the state government had borrowed.

From April 1, 2002 till August 31, 2023, Punjab’s debt increased by 47,107 crore, the letter said. A major part of that, Rs 27,016 crore, went towards interest repayment for inherited debt.

“During my tenure as Chief Minister of Punjab, lingering issues left behind by previous governments were dealt on priority…We used both debt and our own revenue resources to fund organisations/schemes ignored by my predecessors, utilised the new debt to create capital assets and undertake development activities in the State,” Mr Mann said.

At the same time, employment was provided to over 36,000 youth in the state, he added.

Mr Mann requested the Governor to convince the centre to release the pending Rural Development Fund of Rs 5,637 crore and temporarily stop debt repayments for at least five years.

“This will provide much needed relief to the strained financial position of the State and would give some fiscal elbow room to your government to accelerate the growth of revenue and the pace of development,” said Mr Mann.

Chandigarh:

Noting that Punjab’s debt rose by about Rs 50,000 crore under the AAP dispensation, Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Friday sought from the government details of utilisation of “this huge amount”.

Responding to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s letter requesting him to take up the issue of “pending” rural development fund (RDF) amounting to Rs 5,637 crore with the president and the prime minister, the governor said it would be appropriate to wait for the decision of the Supreme Court on the state government’s plea on the matter.

In his letter on Thursday, Chief Minister Mann said his government had taken up the matter with the Centre and even at the level of the prime minister, RDF dues of Rs 5,637.40 crore were yet to be released by the Centre.

In his response, the governor wrote, “I have received your letter regarding the Rural Development Fund amounting to Rs 5,637 crore and requesting for my intervention to take up the case with the prime minister. At the outset, I would like to convey that I am duty-bound to serve the people of Punjab.” 

“I have learnt from the media reports that you have already approached the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India before approaching me. It would be appropriate to wait for the decision of the highest court before anything is done on this issue,” he said.

The state government moved the Supreme Court in July on the issue.

In his letter, the governor wrote, “Further, I have learnt that the debt of Punjab rose by about Rs 50,000 crore during your regime. Details of the utilisation of this huge amount may be furnished so that I will be able to convince the prime minister that money has been properly utilised.” 

In his letter on Thursday, Mann pointed out that because of the non-release of RDF, the mandi board was unable to repay its existing loans and carry out development activities for farmers.

Food grains are procured by the state government for and on behalf of the Centre. All food grains are procured under the central pool.

The AAP dispensation in Punjab and the Raj Bhavan have been at loggerheads in the recent past over various issues.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)