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Bhagwant Mann meets Amit Shah, seeks revision of disaster relief norms for enhanced aid
Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann urged Home Minister Amit Shah for a special flood relief package, highlighting losses of ₹13,832 crore from recent floods.
Chief minister Bhagwant Mann, in a meeting with the union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday, sought a special package for the state in view of damage caused by the floods.
Mann met the home minister at his residence in the national capital and said that the relief of ₹1600 crore announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit on September 9 was minuscule in the wake of grave loss to the state. The CM added that he also sought upward revision in norms for awarding compensation to the flood victims from the state and national disaster relief fund.
He apprised Shah that Punjab has suffered one of its worst floods in decades, affecting more than 20 lakh people across 2,614 villages, with 6.87 lakh displaced. “The disaster has caused widespread losses with the crop over more than 4.8 lakh acres destroyed. The floods left more than 17,000 houses damaged, over 2.5 lakh livestock affected, and major damage to 4,657 km of rural roads, 485 bridges, 1,417 culverts, and 190 mandis,” he said, adding that the preliminary estimate of losses stands at ₹13,832 crore, covering agriculture, infrastructure, health, education, and livelihoods.
“The current SDRF/NDRF norms are inadequate to address the actual scale of damages, adding that input subsidy where crop loss is 33% and above has been fixed as ₹6,800 per acre by the ministry of home affairs. Paying such a petty amount would be unfair to the farmers, as the crops were almost at the harvesting stage, so ₹50,000 per acre should be paid to the farmers,” he told Shah.
The CM said that he had already flagged the issue with the ministry, adding that, as there was no response so the state has enhanced the compensation at its level by contributing from the state budget.
He said that in a healing touch the flood victims the state government has decided to enhance the compensation of 26% to 33% crop loss to ₹10,000 per acre from existing ₹2,000 per acre under SDRF norms, 33% to 75% crop loss to ₹10,000 from existing ₹6,800 per acre and for 75% to 100% crop loss compensation has been increased to ₹20,000 per acre again from existing ₹6800.
Mann said that in the ₹20,000 per acre compensation being given to the farmers, the state government will contribute ₹14,900, which is the highest in the country. He said that the compensation for fully damaged/ destroyed houses and severely damaged houses should be doubled from the existing ₹1.20 lakh per house in plain areas to ₹2.40 lakh per house.
“Every year the flood protection works are carried out at various places, however, the state government is having inadequate funds at its disposal and it is not possible to provide adequate funds for the flood protection at the international border,” he apprised the home minister, adding that a detailed project report of ₹175.96 crore was submitted to CWC and NDMA, New Delhi for release of funds.
After the meeting, Shah said that the Modi government is committed to providing all possible help to flood-affected people of the state. The central government has provided all possible assistance from central agencies to the state administration, in search, rescue, and immediate restoration during the recent floods in the state, Shah was quoted as saying in a press release. “During the meeting, the CM was apprised that the state disaster response fund (SDRF) has sufficient funds to the tune of ₹12,589.59 crore, which can be utilised for the relief and immediate restoration to the affected people as per the Centre’s norms,” the release further added.
The release further added that an inter-ministerial central team (IMCT) was constituted on September 1 without waiting for the receipt of a memorandum from the Punjab government. “The central team visited the affected areas for on-the-spot assessment of damages from September 3 to 6. However, the state government is yet to submit a detailed memorandum. After receipt of the memorandum, the same will be considered by the central government as per the approved norms,” the release said, adding that the ministry of home affairs (MHA) has already issued guidelines for the recovery and reconstruction (R&R) funding window under SDRF and NDRF on August 14, last year.
Release of pending RDF, Market fee
Raising the issue of the pending share of ₹11,297 crore Rural development fund (RDF) and Market fees, the CM said that it is not being reimbursed despite the provision in Section 7 of the Punjab Rural Development Act, 1987, and Section 23 of the Punjab Agriculture Produce Marketing Act, 1961.
Raising the issue of meagre allowance of arhtiyas commission payable at a rate of 2.5% of MSP, the CM said that commission has remained unchanged since the 2019-20 procurement season and is currently capped at ₹46.00 per quintal for wheat and ₹45.88 per quintal for paddy.
Covered godowns to store foodgrains
The CM said that Punjab has a total covered storage capacity to the tune of 180 lakh tonnes, against which nearly 171 lakh tonnes of food grain stocks (140 lakh tonne rice and 31 lakh tonne wheat) are lying stored in the covered space. For the ongoing paddy procurement, he said that the delivery of custom-milled rice by millers will start in December 2025, and 117-120 lakh tonnes of rice is to be delivered to the FCI till June 30, 2026.
“As of now, only 9 LMT covered space is available for receipt of rice and only 5 LMT rice has been moved from the state since the last two months, as per which only 19 lakh tonnes space will become available by December 2025 and 100 LMT space would be required by June 2026 to complete the delivery of rice of kharif marketing season (KMS) 2025-26 in time.”
“Movement of at least 10-12 lakh tonnes rice is required every month till June, 2026, adding that in view of this, it is requested to ensure this movement of rice, so that the milling of rice in the current season could be completed by June 30, 2026,” he said.
He further said that the Centre had approved a capacity of 60 lakh tonne for the creation of covered godowns under the 10-year guarantee Private Entrepreneurs Guarantee (PEG) scheme in the state, to phase out open storage in a phased manner. Mann suggested that the rates of PEG godowns be discovered through open, competitive tendering.
Seeks arrangement of DAP
Highlighting the issue of arrangements of Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP) for the rabi 2025-26 for the state, the CM said that an estimated 35 lakh hectares will be under wheat cultivation, requiring approximately 5lakh MT of Fertilizer. Unfortunately, he said that a persistent shortage of phosphatic fertilizers, specifically DAP, during this critical period is unwarranted. Mann said that DAP is an essential input for ensuring optimum production of wheat, potato, and other rabi crops.
