Punjab CM Mann says he’s ‘Dukh Mantri’, not Mukh Mantri, vows flood relief by Diwali

A day after being discharged from hospital, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was back in action today, holding meetings to assess flood relief and rebuilding of infrastructure, while assuring that compensation would reach the affected people within 45 days.

“I am not the Mukh Mantri of Punjab, but the ‘Dukh Mantri’. I am back to stand by the people who are facing the worst-ever crisis caused by the floods. ‘Dukh sanjha karan naal adha reh handa hai’ (let’s stand by each other in this hour of grief),” he said.

Mann said a special girdawari on crop loss would start from Saturday, and that he had instructed all deputy commissioners to complete the process at the earliest. “We are collecting details on the loss of human lives, livestock deaths and damage to houses so that the government can start disbursing relief. I want to assure the affected people that we will release full compensation within 45 days. The cheques will be handed over by Diwali,” he said.

Taking a jibe at opposition parties that ruled the state in the past, he said during their tenure, compensation took a year to reach the affected lot. “People need immediate relief. I am personally overseeing the process. Punjab will be giving the highest compensation of Rs 20,000 per acre for crop loss,” he said.

The CM said of the 55 people who had died in the floods, compensation had been given to next of kin of 42 victims. He also warned people against accepting the free seeds being distributed by Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal. He said these could turn out to be “Tota Singh memorial seeds”, sarcastically referring to the alleged whitefly scam during the SAD rule from 2012-16.

The CM also hit out at the Congress and the BJP (it ruled in alliance with the SAD) saying they had allegedly misappropriated the rural development fund (RDF) during their tenure. “When we approached the Centre for the release of these funds in 2022, we were told we will have to route it through the state consolidated fund. We did that by passing a Bill in the Vidhan Sabha. Now, the BJP is still not releasing our Rs 8,000 crore due as RDF simply because Punjab is ruled by AAP,” he lamented.

Flanked by Revenue Minister Hardeep Singh Mundian and Chief Secretary KAP Sinha, Mann maintained that since AAP came to power in 2022, only Rs 1,582 crore had been provided by the Centre as disaster relief fund.

Opposition parties have been targeting the AAP regime over the allegedly missing disaster relief fund ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the state, before asking for more grants, should utilise the Rs 12,000-crore State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) that already had been released.

Clearing the air on the matter, Chief Secretary Sinha said the amount mentioned by the Centre was present only in the form of entries in bank accounts. “The SDRF has three components--Centre’s share of 75 per cent, state share of 25 percent and interest. We only act as bankers and give the money as and when required. These are part of the state’s public accounts,” he said.