National spokesman of Congress Salman Anees Soz Monday said he was deeply shocked by Deputy Chief Minister, Nirmal Singh's comments about the size of financial assistance needed by flood affected people of J&K.In an interview to a local newspaper, Singh has single-handedly undermined the case for financial assistance that the Government of J&K has submitted to the Union Government.“In extremely casual language, the Deputy Chief Minister has dismissed the Rs. 44000 crore request that the previous State Government submitted to the Centre. The current PDP-BJP government endorsed the 44000 crore request. Apparently, Nirmal Singh and the BJP are satisfied with the Ra. 2100 crores sanctioned by the Centre and only want an additional Rs. 1500 crores. The Deputy Chief Minister thinks that Rs. 3600 crores is ‘sufficient’ for flood victims. If this is the position of the State Government, then I can say with a sense of anxiety that J&K is in for a very difficult time over the next few years,” Salman Soz said in a statement to KNS.
“The Deputy CM criticised the previous government's 44000 crore request and insinuated that the figure was arrived at “without doing any ground work”. But, if the previous government's figure is wrong, how did the Deputy CM arrive at the Rs. 3600 crores figure? What expertise does he have and what methodology has he used? Can he explain why Uttarakhand received more than 8000 crores for floods that were far smaller in scope than Kashmir floods?” he asked.“Let us be clear. Had the Congress Party been in power at the Centre rather than the BJP, flood assistance money would have flowed much faster and in much large volumes. That is because BJP is either incompetent or uncaring in its attitude towards J&K, especially people affected by the floods. We are in the middle of the working season and there is no visible support from Modi Sarkar for an economy that is in a shambles. But if we have advocates like Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh, one shouldn't expect too much anyway. Perhaps Nirmal Singh should keep Rs. 3600 crore with Modi ji. J&K's flood-affected people will struggle on without the BJP's pittance,” Salman Soz added.