Farmers have 'lost faith' in AAP govt, want flood-related compensation: Union minister

Chandigarh, Sep 27 (PTI) Union Minister B L Verma on Saturday claimed that farmers have "lost faith" in the AAP government in Punjab and want compensation for damages caused by the recent floods to be deposited into their accounts.

On the Punjab government asking when the Centre will release the Rs 1,600 crore relief package, Verma said, "The state government does not need to worry... they will not be given (the money). We will give it to farmers." Verma, who was visiting flood-hit areas in Gurdaspur district, told reporters that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while visiting flood-hit Punjab, had announced a Rs 1,600 crore package in addition to the Rs 12,000 crore already in the state's kitty.

He said Modi had asked concerned officials to carry out an assessment of damages in a transparent manner. After the completion of the assessment, the Modi government will pay the compensation, Verma asserted.

The minister, however, claimed that the farmers have "lost faith" in the state government, and they are saying that they do not want the funds to be given to it.

"They (farmers) want the money to be transferred into their accounts," said the Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

The Punjab government has been claiming that the Centre has not yet released any money out of the Rs 1,600 crore relief package announced by the PM.

On the first day of the special session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Friday, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema had launched a scathing attack against the Union government, alleging that not even a single penny was released out of the relief package.

Cheema had said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann wrote to the Prime Minister in late August, seeking the release of Rs 60,000 crore in "outstanding" funds.

The AAP government had moved a resolution in the House to condemn the "lack of response and the failure" of the BJP-led Centre to sanction a special financial package for the flood-hit Punjab.

The resolution also condemned the Prime Minister's Office for "not responding" to the Punjab chief minister's repeated request for a meeting, thereby "insulting" the people of the state, and preventing the state from making a proper and comprehensive representation of the full scale of the disaster.

The resolution further said the state government, with deep regret, must inform the House and the people of Punjab that even a part of the meagre announced package of Rs 1,600 crore has not yet been transferred to the state treasury.

The resolution also stated that it expresses profound dismay at the announcement of a token relief package of Rs 1,600 crore, which is a cruel mockery of the state's genuine demand of over Rs 20,000 crore for a full recovery.

Punjab faced one of its worst flood disasters in decades, primarily due to the swollen Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi rivers, along with seasonal rivulets resulting from heavy rainfall in their catchment areas in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Furthermore, heavy rains in Punjab exacerbated the flooding situation.

Crops over five lakh acres were damaged in the recent floods. PTI CHS RHL