A delegation of Youth Akali Dal (YAD) led by its President and Revenue & Public Relations Minister, S. Bikram Singh Majithia today called on the Chief Patron of Shiromani Akali Dal and Punjab Chief Minister S. Parkash Singh Badal to hand over a cheque of Rs 21 lakh as financial assistance towards Chief Minister's Relief Fund for the flood victims of Uttarakhand.Lauding the initiative of YAD for making contribution towards the Chief Minister's Relief Fund, S. Badal said that the Youth wing of Akali Dal had always taken the call from forefront to help the needy in the hour of distress. He also appreciated the zeal of Punjabis to help their brethren especially at the time of grief and crisis, thereby displaying their indomitable spirit of charity as preached by our great Gurus, Saints andSeers. The Chief Minister called upon S. Majithia to further mobilise the rank and file of the party to intensify their efforts for providing succour to the flood hit victims besides helping the hill state in its process of reconstruction and rehabilitation.
Recalling his meeting with the Uttarakhand Chief Minister, S. Badal said that the former had already appreciated the stupendous relief efforts made by Punjab government in the relief and rehabilitation process in the flood ravaged state. Reiterating his commitment to provide all possible help for rebuilding the damaged infra structure and installations in Uttarakhand, the Chief Minister said he had already entrusted this task to the PWD (B&R) department for the construction of dwelling units in villages, which had been completely devastated in the recent flash floods there. Likewise he also impressed upon the Youth that they should also help the state in their own modest way by mitigating the sufferings of the flood victims.
Speaking on the occasion, S. Majithia thanked the Chief Minister for sparing valuable time from his busy schedule to pat the YAD workers who had donated generously for this noble cause. He further said that the tragic saga of flood victims was beyond anybody's description as thousands of people have been rendered homeless and infrastructure worth Rupees thousands of crore had been vanished due to the flash floods. S. Majithia said that the YAD workers had once again upheld the glorious tradition of Punjab's heritage of helping the poor and destitute in turbulent times.
Expressing his solidarity with the people of Uttrakhand, S. Majithia appreciated the concern of Chief Minister for adopting a unanimous resolution describing devastating floods as a 'National Tragedy', in a specially convened Cabinet meeting besides giving a grant of Rs 10 crore to it. He appealed to the public for making generous donations to support this noble cause to bail out the people of hill state in the process of reconstruction. He urged the YAD leaders to motivate people all over the state to further extend their unstinted support to the flood victims in every possible manner. Prominent amongst other present on the occasion included MLA S. Harpreet Singh Kot Bhai, YAD leaders S. Bunty Romana, S. Ravi Sidhu, S. HS Dhindsa besides several leaders and workers of YAD from across the state.