CHANDIGARH: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government and the opposition parties including the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal have termed the Rs 1,600 crore flood relief package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Gurdaspur on Tuesday as a "cruel joke" and "a drop in the ocean."
The farmers unions have also pointed out the inadequacy of the package announced.
The BJP, on the other hand, accused the state government of "presenting irrational data to secure central aid."
Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema called the flood-relief package announced by Modi as “miserably meagre”.
Cheema said that cabinet minister Hardeep Singh Mundian, who attended the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Modi to review the flood situation in Gurdaspur, had openly told the PM that the amount announced is "meagre" and demanded a Rs 20,000 crore interim relief.
However, Cheema added, Prime Minister reacted saying, "kya aapko Hindi samajh nahin aati. Aapko samajh nahin aata, ke Rs 1,600 crore de diya" (Do you not understand Hindi? Do you not understand that Rs 1,600 crore has been given).
"Thus, the PM insulted our mother tongue Punjabi, people of Punjab and Punjabiyat," he charged.
He also claimed that the PM did not even bother to hold the hands of people who lost their kin to the floods during his visit.
The Congress party in the state accused the state government of misusing Rs 12,000 crore allocated under the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF).
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said that both the Centre and the state government have badly let down the people of Punjab.
He said that while the Chief Minister was indisposed and was confined to a hospital bed, the rest of the government machinery simply vanished at the time of the crisis. "They failed the people before, during and after the crisis," he added.
Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said that the Rs 1600 crore that Prime Minister Modi announced as relief was mere 8 percent of the total estimated loss faced by Punjab due to the floods.
Harinder Singh Lakhowal, president of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Lakhowal Group) said the Centre should provide relief to farmers in this difficult time by waiving their loans and implementing the crop insurance scheme on all crops.
Sarwan Singh Pandher of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha said the union gvenrment’s step-motherly treatment towards the state was witnessed once again, as the relief package announced by the PM was much less than expected. “We had demanded Rs 70,000 per acre and relief for farm labourers. It is not clear now as to how the funds would be used,” he said.
On the other hand, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Punjab chief Sunil Jakhar accused the state government of presenting irrational data to secure central aid. Despite this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced Rs 1,600 crore as immediate relief for the state and assured further assistance upon receiving additional proposals.
Additional support has been announced for schools, national highways, and damaged houses under various schemes. The next installment of the Pradhan Mantri Samman Nidhi Yojana and the second SDRF tranche will also be released in advance. He added that the state can undertake rural development under MNREGA if it has the will and the intention, he said.
Jakhar further noted that while the Chief Secretary claimed damages to the tune of Rs 13,289 crore, cabinet minister Hardeep Singh Mundian pegged the figure at Rs 20,000 crore. This arbitrary presentation of figures reflects the AAP government’s irresponsible approach.
Challenging Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s claim that the central government owes Punjab Rs 60,000 crore, Jakhar likened it to Kejriwal’s “fantasy” of generating Rs 60,000 crore from sand and liquor revenue, calling it absolutely a bogus claim.
He questioned Punjab’s Finance Minister that if state government really believes it then why did he not raise this issue during the GST Council meeting on September 3.
Jakhar said that the Rs 12,000 crore of SDRF received from centre has not been utilised for flood mitigation efforts but has been squandered on publicity stunts and other purposes . By citing regulations, the government is now trying to cover up its mismanagement. He recalled that in 2023, Mann announced Rs 15,000 per acre as compensation, but only Rs 6,800 was disbursed which it received from central government . CM must now clarify the source of the promised Rs 20,000 per acre compensation.
Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria who flew back to Chandigarh from Pathankot on Wednesday morning met the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann at the Fortis hospital in Mohali to inquire about his health and said that he had conducted an aerial survey of the flood situation. `` Though the water level has started receding, the extent of damage to houses and crops is enormous. More aid will be coming 100 percent in the coming days," he assured.