Chandigarh, May 24 -- Punjab finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Saturday criticised the BJP-led Centre over the Rs.2.87 lakh crore of dividend announced by RBI, alleging that the Narendra Modi government was increasingly treating the RBI like a "personal treasury" to manage its fiscal deficit while denying states their rightful share despite India's federal structure. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday announced a record dividend of Rs.2.87 lakh crore to the government for FY 2026, providing a financial boost for the exchequer amid rising import bills and supply chain disruptions due to the West Asia conflict. Citing official figures, Cheema said the Centre had taken nearly Rs.14.29 lakh crore from the RBI since 2014, with more than half of the amount transferred in the last three years alone. The finance minister warned that continuous extraction of RBI reserves not only weakened the country's central bank and long-term financial resilience, but also struck at the spirit of cooperative federalism by financially squeezing states. He said the RBI surplus had been generated through economic activities, transactions and revenue generation taking place across all states, therefore states deserved their rightful share in the funds instead of the Centre keeping the entire amount centralised. Cheema stated, "The financial structure of the country is based on federalism. Every Indian contributes to the economy and every state contributes to national growth and revenue generation. Then why are states denied their rightful share from such extraordinary gains? The rights of the states must be protected and the central government should not deprive states of their rightful share."...