Cong, Akali MPs trade charges in Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha members on Tuesday expressed concern over the devastation caused by floods in various parts of the country, including Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, with most of them seeking financial assistance from the Centre to tackle the situation.
Lok Sabha members on Tuesday expressed concern over the devastation caused by floods in various parts of the country, including Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, with most of them seeking financial assistance from the Centre to tackle the situation.
Congress MP from Gurdaspur Partap Singh Bajwa said crops on 4.5 lakh acres in several districts of Punjab, especially in the border areas, had been damaged by floods due to heavy downpour, while seeking the deployment of army and paramilitary forces to help in rescue and relief operations.
Amid interruptions from Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MPs, Bajwa said the state government had enough funds and should give compensation of Rs 25,000 per acre for crop damage.
As Bajwa spoke, four SAD MPs entered the well to counter him. They were pacified after speaker Meira Kumar assured that one of them would be allowed to speak.
Sher Singh Ghubaya, Akali MP from Ferozepur, accused the Congress-led government at the Centre of "not giving a single penny" to the SAD-BJP government in Punjab to tackle the flood situation caused by overflowing rivers such as the Sutlej and Beas.
Maintaining that the state government was distributing free foodgrains among the affected people, he said the Centre should provide compensation to them.
Earlier, raising the issue during zero hour, Samajwadi Party MP Ram Kishun said a serious situation has arisen in eastern Uttar Pradesh from Allahabad to Ballia as several rivers were in spate.
He sought special financial assistance from the Centre for 19 districts in the region, saying that standing crop had been destroyed and thousands of flood-hit people were in dire straits.
Ganesh Singh (BJP) drew the union government's attention to the situation in parts of Madhya Pradesh following heavy rain and wanted a central team to be sent immediately to decide on the financial assistance.