Chandigarh :Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring on Monday demanded financial assistance of ₹10,000 crore from the Centre for Punjab to compensate the losses caused by the recent floods as well as an emergency session of the state assembly to reprioritise budgetary expenditure for the rest of the current fiscal.
The Congress leader made the demand in a letter to Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit, urging him to appeal to the central government to release the money from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), PM Relief Fund and Contingency Fund of India to compensate the Punjab farmers and to rehabilitate flood-hit victims in the state.
“Punjab is in dire need of funds from the Government of India (GoI) to help the victims of the devastating floods in the state and meet the financial requirements. More than one-third population of Punjab has been deprived of basic necessities, and businesses have come to a standstill,” he wrote, seeking a minimum compensation of ₹50,000 per acre to farmers as crops in an estimated area of five lakh acres have got destroyed.
Warring also demanded financial assistance of ₹5 lakh to those whose houses got damaged, ex gratia of ₹5 lakh per person to those injured and ₹25 lakh per person to the families who have lost their sole bread earners. His other demands include financial assistance of ₹2 lakh to the shopkeepers who have suffered losses in their business and compensation of ₹50,000 for death of cattle. Financial help is also required to initiate repair and reconstruction of infrastructure such as roads, bridges, schools and hospitals that got damaged in the recent floods, he added.
{{/usCountry}}Warring also demanded financial assistance of ₹5 lakh to those whose houses got damaged, ex gratia of ₹5 lakh per person to those injured and ₹25 lakh per person to the families who have lost their sole bread earners. His other demands include financial assistance of ₹2 lakh to the shopkeepers who have suffered losses in their business and compensation of ₹50,000 for death of cattle. Financial help is also required to initiate repair and reconstruction of infrastructure such as roads, bridges, schools and hospitals that got damaged in the recent floods, he added.
{{/usCountry}}He said the Centre had allocated a paltry sum of ₹218 crore for the state, which was inadequate to meet the emergency situation. Another request to the governor is to suggest to the Punjab government to hold the emergency session to re prioritize budgetary expenditure and create a dedicated fund, accountable to legislature, to mitigate sufferings of current floods.