New Delhi/Chandigarh, April 11 -- Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann met Union food and public distribution minister Pralhad Joshi in New Delhi on Friday and pressed for resolution of structural issues burdening Punjab, including higher cash credit interest rates, Rs.9,000 crore pending under the rural development fund (RDF), compensation for hailstorm-hit crops, and long-pending demands of arhtiyas. He said the Union minister has assured that a secretary-level meeting will soon be held to resolve the matter.

He also claimed that the Centre has agreed to run special trains to lift 155 lakh metric tonnes of foodgrains lying in Punjab and ease the state's acute storage crisis ahead of the rabi marketing season.

Flagging shortage of stora...