CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday sought an upward revision in the relief norms for those affected by the devastating floods in the state. Mann said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had called him on Monday and he had apprised them about the situation in the state.
CM Mann toured the flood affected areas of Ferozepur district in a boat to take stock of the situation at the ground level. Aboard the boat with officers, he visited Gatti Rajo village and said the floods have caused grave damage to crops, which are almost at the harvesting stage.
Expressing concern over the meagre compensation given for losses due to the natural disaster, he said that though substantial funds are available in the State Disaster Response Fund, the existing norms prescribed under the guidelines of the Home Ministry are grossly inadequate to compensate farmers, livestock owners, and vulnerable communities for the scale of their losses.
Mann said the compensation per acre to farmers for their losses due to the natural disaster was minuscule, in the wake of the exorbitant hike in the prices of agriculture inputs to raise the crops. He urged that the relief amount be increased to at least Rs 50,000 per acre.
He said that he had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought his kind intervention to enhance the ex-gratia payment for families of deceased persons to Rs 8 lakh from the existing Rs 4 lakh. Likewise, he said he had sought an upward revision for ex-gratia payment for loss of limb or eye(s) from the existing Rs 74,000 per person, when the disability is between 40 per cent and 60 per cent, to Rs 1.50 lakh, and from Rs 2.5 lakh per person, when the disability is more than 60 per cent, to Rs 5 lakh.
He said the Union government must adopt a liberal approach to compensate flood victims in this hour of crisis, adding that he had already written a letter to the Prime Minister and urged him to release Rs 60,000 crore. Mann said the recent floods have impacted more than 1300 villages across the state and affected lakhs of people.
The CM said that heavy monsoon rains, coupled with the release of waters from dams, have caused extensive flooding in more than 10 districts. He said that the situation is still evolving as there is a grave concern that conditions may further deteriorate in the coming days. Mann said that at present, about three lakh acres of farmland, primarily paddy fields, have submerged under floodwater, leading to huge crop losses just weeks before harvest.
In addition, he said that there has been a widespread loss of livestock, which is severely impacting rural households whose livelihoods are heavily dependent on dairy and animal husbandry.