CM Mann Offers ₹50,000 Per Acre Compensation If Centre Grants ₹60,000 Crore

Chandigarh (The Uttam Hindu)- Punjab is currently facing severe floods. In such a situation, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding relief for the state. The Chief Minister said that this is a difficult time for Punjab, so the central government should release Punjab's pending funds of Rs 60,000 crore.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann wrote- Punjab is currently facing one of the biggest disasters in decades, which has affected about 1000 villages and lakhs of people. Due to heavy rains and release of water from dams, 7 districts Gurdaspur, Kapurthala, Amritsar, Pathankot, Ferozepur, Fazilka and Hoshiarpur have been severely flooded. The situation is worsening and is expected to worsen further in the coming days.

Bhagwant Mann wrote that currently about 3 lakh acres of agricultural land, especially paddy fields, are submerged in flood water. Crops are being heavily damaged just a few weeks before harvesting. Apart from this, there has been extensive damage to livestock, which is having a serious impact on rural families whose livelihood is heavily dependent on dairy and animal husbandry. The Chief Minister said that due to the implementation of GST and removal of VAT system, the state has suffered a revenue loss of Rs 49,727 crore, for which no compensation has been received. Over Rs 8,000 crore has been lost due to reduction in Rural Development Fund and Market Development Fee over the last few years.

Mann said that recently the central government cancelled PMGSY projects worth Rs 828 crore in Punjab. This may adversely affect the rural connectivity of the state. The Punjab CM requested the central government to immediately release the pending funds of Punjab worth Rs 60,000 crore. He wrote in the letter, "Punjab is facing a tough time due to the severe flood conditions. You are requested to release the stuck funds of Punjab by the Government of India.

Bhagwant Mann urged the central government to immediately amend the compensation rules of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to increase the compensation amount to Rs 50,000 per acre. He also clarified that the state government will continue to contribute 25 per cent as per the Centre's scheme.