Centre did ‘criminal neglect’ with Punjab flood victims, claims AAP

Chandigarh, Oct 7 The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday slammed the BJP-led Central government over its “criminal neglect” of Punjab’s flood victims, accusing it of showing bias and discrimination against the state.

AAP spokesperson Neel Garg told the media here that the BJP government has treated Punjab with “shocking indifference despite massive destruction caused by the floods”.

Garg said over 5 lakh acres of crops, 2,305 villages, 8,500 km of roads, 3,200 schools, and thousands of livestock were destroyed, with the total loss estimated at nearly Rs 20,000 crore.

“The Chief Minister wrote to the Centre seeking a Rs 20,000-crore relief package for Punjab, but it has been more than two and a half months, and not a single rupee has been released. Is this how the Union treats a border state that feeds the nation?” Garg questioned.

He compared the Centre’s apathy toward Punjab with its generosity in other states, saying, “Where the tragedy struck, they sent no help; where elections are being held, they sent Rs 10,000 directly into the accounts of Bihar’s women. When Punjab was drowning, the Centre remained silent. But when votes are at stake elsewhere, money rains down like floodwater.”

“When the Prime Minister finally came to Punjab, he did nothing more than a photo session and an aerial survey. He didn’t meet the victims, didn’t announce real relief, and then left. The same story repeats with central ministers who come one after another,” he said.

Garg added that BJP leaders had initially claimed the Rs 1,600 crore announced by the Centre was a token payment and more aid would follow, but later the Centre counted old grants as part of this amount.

“They even included Rs 805 crore given earlier and Rs 170 crore for national highways, funds that Punjab was entitled to regardless of floods, in this Rs 1,600 crore figure. It’s a cruel joke on flood victims,” Garg said.

He reminded that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had demanded changes to SDRF norms, which currently provide only Rs 6,800 per acre as compensation, an amount he said cannot even begin to cover the losses.

“That’s why Punjab demanded a Rs 20,000-crore package, to give farmers and victims some real relief,” Garg added.

--IANS

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