Chandigarh, August 31
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the immediate release of Rs 60,000 crore in state funds held up by the Government of India. In a letter to the Prime Minister, Mann highlighted the severe flood crisis gripping Punjab, one of the worst in decades, affecting around 1,000 villages and lakhs of people. He noted that heavy monsoon rains and water releases from dams have caused widespread flooding in seven districts: Gurdaspur, Kapurthala, Amritsar, Pathankot, Ferozepur, Fazilka, and Hoshiarpur, with fears of further deterioration in the coming days.
Mann reported that approximately three lakh acres of farmland, primarily paddy fields, remain submerged, leading to significant crop losses just weeks before harvest. Additionally, extensive livestock losses have severely impacted rural households reliant on dairy and animal husbandry. The Chief Minister also pointed out that Punjab has incurred a permanent revenue loss of Rs 49,727 crore due to the transition from VAT to GST, for which no compensation has been provided by the Central Government.
Furthermore, Mann highlighted that reductions in the Rural Development Fund (RDF) and Market Development Fund (MDF) over recent years have amounted to over Rs 8,000 crore. He also noted that the Central Government recently scrapped PMGSY projects in Punjab worth Rs 828 crore, which could hamper rural connectivity in the long term. Given the dire flood situation, Mann urged the Prime Minister to release the Rs 60,000 crore in pending funds to support the state’s recovery efforts.
watch…..Punjab Flood Crisis: 14,936 Evacuated, 122 Camps Open
The Chief Minister emphasized that while the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) has substantial resources, the compensation norms set by the Ministry of Home Affairs are inadequate to address the scale of losses faced by farmers, livestock owners, and vulnerable communities. For instance, the input subsidy for crop loss of 33% and above is fixed at Rs 17,000 per hectare (Rs 6,800 per acre), which Mann described as unrealistic and insufficient. To address this, the Punjab Government supplements an additional Rs 8,200 per acre, providing farmers with Rs 15,000 per acre. Given that crops are near harvest, Mann proposed revising the SDRF norms to provide at least Rs 50,000 per acre to farmers, with the state continuing to contribute its 25% share as per the scheme.
