SAD announces relief package to flood-stricken farmers; urges PM to announce Rs 20,000 crore aid for victims

CHANDIGARH: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Monday announced to provide certified wheat seed to farmers for one lakh acres of land and distribute 500 trucks of maize silage and compressed hay. SAD also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to announce a Rs 20,000 crore package for the flood victims. Announcing the partys relief package after an emergency meeting of senior leaders and district presidents who have been charged with implementing it, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal said that he had booked 500 trucks of maize silage for distribution at the village level. He also announced that arrangements had been made to purchase 500 trucks of compressed hay (dry fodder). Besides this, he announced that the party had purchased 500 fogging machines, which would be distributed in flood-affected areas and would be manned by party volunteers to ward off the spread of malaria and other diseases. Asserting that the SAD would not only provide relief material, Badal said, We will distribute certified wheat seed to farmers for one lakh acres of land. He said, besides this, 30,000 quintals of seed would be distributed in flood-affected areas to fulfil the ration needs of the people. He also announced that the Shiromani Committee had acceded to his request to hold 125 medical camps headed by doctors and staff of the Guru Ramdas hospital, Amritsar, simultaneously in flood-affected areas. Twenty-five teams of veterinary doctors have also been constituted to ensure the welfare of livestock in flooded areas. He also announced that volunteers would help in clearing sand from farmers' fields. Speaking about efforts needed to be put in by the centre and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, Badal demanded a central and State government loan waiver for all flood-affected farmers while asserting that the six-month moratorium on loans would not help farmers who would need two to three years to recover their losses in the floods. He also demanded the State government increase ex- gratia for loss of life to Rs 10 lakh per victim instead of Rs 4 lakh as announced, compensation of Rs 1 lakh per animal for loss of livestock, besides compensation for all damaged houses. He demanded that compensation for crop losses be given to the cultivator, be it the owner or the lessee, and that those who were cultivating kutcha lands should also be given compensation. Badal also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to announce an Rs 20,000 crore flood relief and rehabilitation package for Punjab during his visit to the State tomorrow. A special monitoring committee should be instituted to disburse this relief measures to ensure it is not misused as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government does not have an answer to what it has done with the Rs 13,000 crore lying with it under the Disaster Management Fund. Urging the industry to come forward to extend help to the flood victims, he said, It is unfortunate but true that even though Punjabis have served the earthquake-hit in Gujarat, the tsunami-stricken in Tamil Nadu and people of Nepal to provide humanitarian aid, no one has come to help us in this time of crisis. I have been in the field for the last fifteen days. People have come up to me and told me that nothing was done to strengthen their bundhs. It is also a fact that the mandatory flood control and review meeting was not held as per schedule. This compounded the suffering of the people, he added.