Today, constituency MLA and former Cabinet Minister of Punjab, S. Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, along with Kharrar constituency MLA and former Cabinet Minister Anmol Gagan Mann, arrived on tractors at the flood-affected villages of Kallomahal, Sultanmahal, and Dahurian, which are still half-submerged in the waters of the Ravi river floods.
They expressed solidarity with the flood victims and assured them that Punjab Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann’s government is committed to providing the required relief funds for the rehabilitation of victims and for compensation of damages caused to crops, houses, livestock, and human lives.
On this occasion, Anmol Gagan Mann, along with her supporters, brought 5 vehicles full of folding cots, tarpaulins, mosquito nets, mats, fodder, torches, odomos, candles, as well as sugar, tea, and other essential household items. These were distributed among the flood-affected families of the above-mentioned villages by S. Dhaliwal and Anmol Gagan Mann in the spirit of service, without any caste or political discrimination.
During the interaction, Dhaliwal said that Aam Aadmi Party’s National Convenor, Shri Arvind Kejriwal, and Punjab Chief Minister, Shri Bhagwant Singh Mann, along with the entire leadership of the party, during their tenure in power, have rejected communal hatred and petty politics, and instead adopted a welfare-oriented mission.
Free electricity, free quality healthcare, free medical insurance up to 10 lakh rupees for Punjab’s 3 crore population without conditions, quality education, and many such facilities have been made the central mission of the party. As a result, other national parties in the country have also been compelled to make people-welfare-oriented facilities the central theme of their politics.
He added that when Punjab was struck by the natural disaster of floods, social, religious, and political organizations of Punjab, inspired by AAP’s welfare politics and service mission, left no stone unturned in delivering necessary relief items to the victims.
Dhaliwal expressed deep concern that the central government has not yet announced any relief package for Punjabis who have been suffering from the tragedy of floods for the last two weeks. In fact, the primary responsibility for providing on-ground relief lies with the central government, but it is shifting this responsibility onto the states while trying to portray itself as blameless.
He said that in 2021-22, when devastating floods hit Punjab and Bihar, the central government provided Bihar with a huge financial package but neglected Punjab. In 2023 too, when floods struck Punjab, several central government teams from departments like agriculture, finance, electricity, and water supply came to assess the damage and even submitted reports.
But despite this, neither was any special financial package announced nor was the compensation amount for damaged crops increased.Dhaliwal, in an emotional tone, criticized the central government, saying that just yesterday, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, while inspecting the flood-affected areas of Punjab, admitted that crops have been completely destroyed.
Even central teams confirmed this. Yet, the central government continues to treat Punjab with stepmotherly behavior and has still not released relief funds of ₹80,000 per acre for crop loss, ₹1 lakh for farm laborers, ₹1 lakh for dead cattle, and ₹20 lakh for families of individuals who lost their lives in the floods.