A day after all the Opposition parties in the state demanded a central inquiry into the alleged misuse of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) relief funds to the tune of Rs 12,128 crore, senior state government officials maintained that Punjab had received only Rs 6,190 crore from the Centre under this head in the past two decades. A top official said the state itself has contributed Rs 2,042 crore towards this fund during this period, taking the total to Rs 8,232 crore.
“Since the AAP came to power in the state in March 2022, Punjab received only Rs 1,582 crore as disaster relief fund, out of which Rs 649 crore has been utilised. “The BJP is lying about the funds available to malign the government for petty political interests,” Finance Minister Harpal Cheema said.
Also read: Punjab govt misused ₹12,000-cr SDRF funds, alleges Congress
He said taking into account that the withdrawal of money from the SDRF funds was considered as borrowing on high interest rate (2 per cent over the repo rate), the figure of Rs 12,128 crore had been arrived at by including this interest.
Cash-rich panchayats asked to contribute
The Punjab government has directed 288 cash-rich panchayats to contribute 5 per cent of their reserves for flood relief efforts. The director, rural development and panchayats issued a letter on Friday, directing all district development and panchayat officers to ask the 288 panchayats to contribute towards flood relief.
These panchayats have Rs 618.83 crore in fixed deposits, and 5 per cent of this comes to Rs 30.94 crore. The highest amount is available with Patiala’s Shambhu Kalan panchayat (Rs 79.38 crore), followed by Mohali’s Behlolpur (Rs 43.50 crore) Dararhi (Rs 27 crore) and Sural Kalan (Rs 21.28 crore). Rural Development Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond said he has appealed to these panchayats to come forward and help in relief and rehabilitation efforts.
SGPC reserves ₹20 crore for flood relief
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) executive committee has decided to reserve an initial amount of Rs 20 crore for assisting flood victims. Addressing the media after an executive committee meeting, committee president Harjinder Singh Dhami said the SGPC would also provide 8 lakh litres of diesel to farmers to help level and prepare their fields for cultivation again.
He said farmers with less than 10 acres of land would be provided high-quality wheat seeds for the upcoming sowing season. Each flood-affected gurdwara would get Rs 50,000 each as financial assistance and students would be provided free textbooks.
Dhami said the SGPC would deploy 50 medical vans from Sri Guru Ramdas Medical College in affected areas, apart from providing langar and ration supplies. He urged the Punjab government to waive VAT on diesel for farmers to maximise relief benefits.
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