: Wednesday, 01 October 2025 4:23 pm
Punjab. In the special session of Punjab Legislative Assembly, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann raised a sharp question about the attitude of the central government on the issue of flood relief and said that the state is demanding its rights, not begging. Maan dismissed the claims of the Center keeping the entire figures of the SDRF (State Disaster Response Fund) of the last 25 years in the Assembly. He clarified that the Center’s claim of ₹ 12,000 crore in SDRF is completely misleading and factless. The Chief Minister explained in detail that in the last 25 years, the state has received only ₹ 6,190 crore under SDRF, including the tenure of Akali-BJP alliance and Congress governments. Most of these amounts have already been spent in various disasters – floods, droughts, hailstorms and other natural disasters. Currently, only about ₹ 1,200 crore remains left in the SDRF account, which is insufficient to deal with this disastrous flood. The severe floods in August 2025 caught about 1,400 villages in Punjab and more than four lakh people were directly affected. There was widespread destruction in the major agricultural areas of the state, in which thousands of acres of standing crops were destroyed. Wheat, mustard and other rabi crops suffered heavy losses. According to farmer organizations, about 75,000 farmer families have been completely ruined and there is a strict need for immediate relief.
According to the preliminary assessment made by the state government, the total damage caused by floods is estimated at ₹ 13,800 crore. This includes agricultural damage, infrastructure damage, damage to roads and bridges, loss of electricity and water supply system. However, the state government believes that the actual loss may be much higher as the survey work is still going on in many remote areas. Keeping this in mind, the Punjab government has demanded a special relief package of ₹ 20,000 crore from the Center.
The central government has so far approved an amount of only ₹ 1,600 crore, which the state government and opposition parties have termed “drops in the sea”. It was also suggested by the Center that the state should use ₹ 12,000 crore funds lying in SDRF. To this, Chief Minister Mann reacted strongly and said that this claim is nothing more than “Fizool Kalpana” and “Mitter’s Baazigari”. He said that the entire account of SDRF has been put in front of the public in a transparent manner and anyone can check it.
In his speech in the Assembly, Chief Minister Mann made serious allegations against the central government, saying, “We are not begging the Center, but are demanding our rights. The state has more than ₹ 50,000 crore stopping under GST, more than ₹ 8,000 crore is stuck for rural development schemes. It is unfortunate to not give proper help to the state and present the misleading figures during the disaster.” He appealed to the Center not to bring politics in a sensitive matter like disaster management and discharge constitutional obligations.
The state government has left no shortage of relief work at its level. Initial help is being given from the resources of the state to provide immediate assistance to the affected farmers. Assistance is also being distributed from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. However, given the limited resources of the state, it is clear that it will not be possible to deal with this huge disaster without adequate help from the Center. The Punjab government has once again appealed to the Center to immediately approve a relief package of ₹ 20,000 crore so that the affected people can be relieved as soon as possible.
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Web Title-The punjab government is adamant on demand ₹ 20,000 Crore from the Central Government, Calling The SDRF Fund Data Misleading.
