Farm unions, Opposition term PM’s package as mockery

Farm unions and Opposition parties have described the Rs 1,600-crore flood relief package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a betrayal and a cruel joke on Punjab’s suffering.

Terming the Rs 1,600 crore flood relief package for Punjab as “miserably meagre”, Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring described it as “a drop in the ocean”. The people of Punjab had great expectations from the PM, but he badly disappointed everyone, he said.

Leader of Opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Partap Singh Bajwa, said the PM’s announcement amounts to less than 8 per cent of the damages -— a fraction of what Punjab urgently requires. “The Centre must also immediately release the Rs 60,000 crore pending funds that rightfully belong to Punjab under GST compensation, RDF and other central schemes. These withheld funds, if released without delay, will provide Punjab the financial strength to stand back on its feet and rebuild lives, livelihoods and infrastructure,” he said.

AICC secretary and Jalandhar Cantt MLA Pargat Singh said for Punjabis, it was not relief, but humiliation. Once again, Modi has shown his bias and step-motherly treatment towards Punjab. The PM did not utter a word about the volunteers who are doing selfless service for the flood victims, he said.

Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal today urged Modi to enhance the financial assistance of Rs 1,600 crore announced for Punjab during a visit to flood-affected areas in Gurdaspur, even as he expressed shock that the Aam Aadmi Party government had refused to spend even one rupee from the Rs 12,000 crore lying with it under the Disaster Management Fund head to provide timely help to lakhs of flood-affected farmers.

Sukhbir said the PM had exposed the AAP government and its failure to release money from the Disaster Management Fund. “Punjab is 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 has 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,” Badal said.

Jagmohan Singh Patiala, state general secretary of Bhartiya Kisan Union Dakounda, and national member, Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, said the package by the Prime Minister is a cruel joke with the people of Punjab. At least 2,000 villages have been affected by this flood. It comes to around Rs 80 lakh per affected village. The Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, along with the farmer organisations and other allies, would wage a fierce struggle to get full compensation for houses, crops, livestock and the people who have lost their lives, he said.

Harinder Singh Lakhowal, state president of Bharatiya Kisan Union Lakhowal, said the Centre should provide relief to farmers in this difficult time by waiving their loans and implementing the crop insurance scheme on all crops.

Sarwan Singh Pandher of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha said the Centre’s step-motherly treatment towards Punjab was witnessed once again, as the relief package announced by the PM was much less than expected. “We had demanded Rs 70,000 per acre and relief for farm labourers. It is not clear as to how the funds would be used,” he said.

Punjab