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Meagre package a ‘cruel joke’ on Punjab, says AAP, Congress
Finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema and his cabinet colleagues said that the aid of ₹1,600 crore is grossly inadequate relief for the state facing the worst floods in four decades.
Finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema and his cabinet colleagues on Tuesday condemned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s financial assistance package for Punjab, calling it a “cruel joke” on the state’s flood-ravaged people.
Calling it ‘meagre and insulting’, Cheema said that the aid of ₹1,600 crore is grossly inadequate relief for the state facing the worst floods in four decades.
“The PM’s visit was nothing more than a photo-op. After weeks of our state battling an unprecedented natural calamity, the Prime Minister has finally responded with an aid package that is a pittance. The losses incurred by our farmers, labourers, poor people, businesses, and infrastructure run into tens of thousands of crores,” Cheema said in a statement.
Specifically mentioning the immense suffering of the poor people whose houses were destroyed and the loss being faced by the labourers, the AAP leader said that many of these people are living under the open sky, and labourers have not earned a penny.
He said that the state government has already announced compensation of ₹20,000 per acre for farmers and ₹4 lakh for the next of kin of those who lost their lives.
“We are doing everything in our power to provide relief, but the scale of the disaster is such that it requires substantial and immediate support from the Centre,” he added, criticising the Union government for its perceived apathy towards Punjab.
He reiterated the state’s long-standing demand for the release of pending funds from the Centre, including the GST compensation and other dues, which he said amount to over ₹60,000 crore. He also accused the central government of politicising a humanitarian crisis instead of providing adequate relief.
Cabinet ministers Gurmeet Singh Khudian, Hardeep Singh Mundian, Harbhajan Singh ETO, Barinder Kumar Goyal, Lal Chand Kataruchak, and Laljit Singh Bhullar termed the package a ‘token gesture’. “It amounts to adding insult to injury for millions of people who have lost their homes, livelihoods, and crops,” they said. The ministers said the ₹20,000 crore demand was not a figure pulled out of thin air, but a carefully calculated estimate of the damage on the ground.
AAP Punjab in-charge Manish Sisodia termed the package as a direct insult to Punjab.
“Today, Punjab is drowning in floods. Farmers are ruined, homes are submerged, labourers have lost their livelihoods, but the Modi government is merely offering them consolation by giving just ₹1,600 crore,” Sisodia posted on X.
A drop in the ocean: Cong
The Congress’ Punjab unit termed the assistance as “a drop in the ocean” for the flood-hit state.
State Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said the people of Punjab had great expectations from the PM, but he ‘badly disappointed’ everyone.
“This is like a drop in the ocean; as we say in Hindi, ‘Oont ke mooh mein jeera’,” he said.
Warring alleged that Punjab has suffered discrimination during the last 11 years of the BJP’s rule at the Centre, just because the state did not go along with the saffron party.
Leader of Opposition in Punjab, Partap Singh Bajwa, also slammed the relief package.
“Punjab has always placed the nation above itself, by filling its granaries, by sending its soldiers to the frontlines, and by leading national progress. Yet, when Punjab faces one of its worst disasters, the Centre responds with crumbs,” Bajwa stated.
SAD seeks transparency in
spending of disaster funds
Chandigarh
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal, while urging the Prime Minister to enhance the financial assistance, expressed shock that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had refused to spend a single rupee from the ₹12,000 crore lying with it under the disaster management fund head.
“The magnitude of the inundation and the damage to crops and livelihood warranted an enhancement of the assistance awarded to Punjab. The PM’s visit has also exposed the AAP government and its failure to release money from the disaster management fund for flood relief operations,” he said while asking Modi to consider a one-time loan waiver in flood-affected areas, saying it would take two to three years for farmers to get back on their feet.
More relief to flow after assessment reports: BJP
Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar on Tuesday expressed deep gratitude to the Prime Minister for standing with Punjab battling its worst deluge since 1988. Jakhar said the PM “assured people that the Centre would make all efforts in extending succour to the flood-affected people.”
Responding to the ruling AAP and main opposition Congress’s criticism that the financial assistance was not sufficient, Jakhar pointed out that it was in addition to the ₹12,000 crore already in the state’s kitty.
“Apart from ₹1600 crore in aid for flood-affected Punjab on top of the existing ₹12,000 crore in central assistance, funds have also been allocated to convert tubewells to solar pumps, rebuilding homes under the PM Awas Yojana, repair of schools under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, and restoration of national highways. Central teams are submitting their reports, and based on these, the government of India will provide further assistance to Punjab,” Jakhar said.
Meanwhile, Union minister of state for railways Ravneet Bittu said PM’s willingness to listen to the grievances of farmers and those affected by the floods highlights his commitment to the welfare of every citizen of the state.
“This is an initial relief measure, and further support will be extended once the central assessment teams submit their reports,” Bittu said.
