Chandigarh, Sep 9 Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Badal on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to enhance the financial assistance of Rs 1,600 crore announced for Punjab during his visit to the state's flood-affected areas.
The SAD President said the magnitude of the inundation and the damage to crops and livelihood warranted an enhancement of the assistance awarded to Punjab.
He also requested the Prime Minister 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 and that they should be supported in this endeavour.
Badal said the Prime Minister’s visit had exposed the AAP government and its failure to release money from the Rs 12,000 crore Disaster Management Fund for flood relief and rehabilitation operations.
"Punjab has been in the grip of floods for more than 20 days now. Crops over lakhs of acres of land have been submerged. Thousands of houses have been damaged. Thousands of livestock have perished in flooded areas. Despite the magnitude of the disaster, the AAP government did not release any money when needed. This only served to compound the suffering of the people. All this makes it clear that the state failed to present its case to the Centre. It owes an explanation to the people for this criminal negligence," he said in a statement.
The SAD chief said the AAP government’s failure to release funds for strengthening embankments during the crucial days before they breached had also resulted in the destruction of paddy crops over thousands of acres of land.
"The state government abandoned the people to their fate, leaving it to the brave Punjabis to rally around and help each other in this crisis."
About the compensation announced by the AAP government for crop losses, Badal said the policy for disbursal of funds should be made public. "In its earlier policies, the state government has limited compensation to only five acres per farmer."
He also demanded that the government announce that farmers growing crops on river beds on ‘kutcha’ lands would also be given compensation, as they had been denied compensation in 2019 and 2023.
"Compensation should also be given for losses to tubewells, borewells, houses, livestock, as well as household goods," he added.
Badal said it was shocking that ‘khet mazdoor’ (agricultural labourers) had been kept out of the ambit of the compensation announced by the state government. "Besides the extended loss of livelihood due to floods, thousands of houses of labourers who belong to the disadvantaged sections of society have been damaged. They should be given compensation on a priority basis," he added.
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