Hooda asks PM to use funds for tackling air pollution

Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to use the National Clean Energy and Environment Fund towards tackling the problem of air pollution in North India, while alleging that the funds are being used to cover the loss caused due to the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST).

"As reports suggest that National Clean Energy and Environment Fund is being used towards compensating the states' revenue loss due to GST, in this context, I request you to also use the fund towards tackling the issue of pollution in Delhi, NCR and North India," the letter read.

Hooda further urged the prime minister to convene a meeting of the chief ministers of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh to devise a concrete and long-term solution, and allocate appropriate budget towards the same as soon as possible, "so that the problem can be tackled in a time-bound manner, and the issue does not repeat in the next year."

In the letter, the Congress MP from Rohtak said the Centre and state governments should rise above ideological differences to combat the problem together.