Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Chandigarh, 7 October (IANS) Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday slammed the BJP -led Central Government on the “criminal neglect” of the flood victims of Punjab, accused of showing prejudice and discrimination against the state.
AAP spokesman Neil Garg told the media here that the BJP government has treated Punjab with “shocking apathy despite the massive destruction due to floods”.
Garg said that crops, 2,305 villages, 8,500 km of roads, 3,200 schools and thousands of livestock were destroyed in 5 lakh acres, with a total loss of about Rs 20,000 crore.
“The Chief Minister wrote to the Center demanding a relief package of Rs 20,000 crore for Punjab, but it has been more than two and a half months, and not a single rupee has been released. Does this union treat a border state that feeds the nation?” Garg questioned.
Comparing his generosity in other states, he compared the apathy of the Center for Punjab, saying, “Where the tragedy took place, he did not fill any help, where elections are being held, he sent Rs 10,000 directly to the women’s accounts of Bihar.
“When the Prime Minister finally came to Punjab, he did nothing more than a photo session and an aerial survey. He did not meet the victims, not declared real relief, and then left. The same story is repeated with Union Ministers who come one after the other,” he said.
Garg said that BJP leaders had initially claimed that the announcement of Rs 1,600 crore declared by the Center was a token payment and more assistance would be followed, but later the Center counted the old grants as part of this amount.
“Even he included Rs 805 crore given earlier and Rs 170 crore for national highways, the funds that were entitled to the Punjab flood, in this figure of Rs 1,600 crore. It is a cruel joke at the flood victims,” Garg said.
He reminded that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had demanded a change in SDRF criteria, which currently provides only Rs 6,800 per acre as compensation, an amount that he said that he cannot even start covering the loss.
“That is why Punjab demanded a package of Rs 20,000 crore to give some real relief to farmers and victims,” Garg said.
,
VG/Dan