Punjab floods: Union minister Bittu slams CM Mann over compensation

Chandigarh, Nov 26 (PTI) Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu on Wednesday lashed out at Bhagwant Mann, accusing him of lying over the compensation for flood victims after the Punjab chief minister alleged non-release of Rs 1,600 crore relief package announced by the Centre.

Countering Mann's accusations, Bittu said every penny for flood-relief compensation is being provided by the central government.

Sadly, the Punjab government has nothing for the people except false claims and hollow politics, he said.

Chief Minister Mann and the AAP government are indulging in "politics of lies", alleged Bittu, who is the minister of state for railways and food processing industries.

Earlier in the day, at Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur, Mann said the Union government should immediately release the Rs 1,600 crore relief package that had been publicly announced by the prime minister.

He alleged that withholding of the promised assistance amounted to yet another "jumla" (rhetoric) with the people and slammed the Centre for step-motherly treatment being meted out to Punjab.

Reacting to Mann's accusations, Bittu accused him of "lying enormously" in the Majha region on Wednesday.

Referring to the compensation cheques being distributed by Mann in Dera Baba Nanak to flood-hit people, Bittu claimed that all this money was coming from the Centre.

CM Mann on Wednesday disbursed compensation amounting to Rs 377 crore to more than 30,000 families whose houses were damaged during the recent floods.

Meanwhile, Punjab BJP working president Ashwani Sharma also accused Mann of speaking lies.

Sharma told Mann to ask the Punjab chief secretary to write to the central government stating that the Rs 1,600 crore has not been received.

"Send me a copy of that letter as well, so that I can take up the matter with the Centre. If the chief secretary does not send such a letter, then your allegations stand exposed as false, ”just like your promise of giving Rs 1,000 per month to women or your claim of providing compensation to all flood-affected families," said Sharma.

Punjab had faced one of its worst flood disasters in decades in August and September with the worst-affected districts being Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Pathankot, Hoshiarpur, Ferozepur, Fazilka and Tarn Taran. PTI CHS KVK KVK