More than a month after the Punjab government submitted a memorandum to the Centre seeking flood damages, pegging total losses at Rs 12,905 crore, the state is waiting for financial assistance from Delhi. This has added to tension between the AAP-ruled state and the BJP-led Union government.
On September 10, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a Rs 1,600-crore relief package during his visit to the flood-hit state. However, this drew criticism from non-BJP parties in the Opposition as well as the AAP, which termed the amount “meagre” compared to the scale of devastation. Sources in the state government claimed that Punjab had received only Rs 240 crore so far, an advance instalment of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) that was due in October. “After the PM’s visit, the instalment was just released a month earlier. But beyond that, not a single penny has been sanctioned,” state Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said last Wednesday.
“We were saying Rs 1,600 crore was peanuts. But we haven’t even got that. All we received was Rs 240 crore from the SDRF, which is technically a loan for which we must pay 8% interest,” Cheema said.
The state finance minister said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had repeatedly sought an appointment with the Prime Minister to discuss the matter, “but the PM does not have the time to meet Punjab’s CM”.
The BJP dismissed the allegations, claiming that the Centre had provided “enough funds to Punjab” and the Mann government was “making an issue out of nothing”. “Let the Chief Secretary make a statement. A bureaucrat will never lie and will speak only what is written in the file given to him,” state BJP spokesperson Vineet Joshi said.
Joshi also slammed the Mann government over the “delay” in submitting the memorandum. “The PM is very busy and will give an appointment whenever he has time. The state government, on the other hand, was not able to submit the memorandum on time. And finally, when they did, they were not able to make claims like they did earlier. The memorandum submitted had a smaller amount than what was initially being claimed,” he said.
After the initial criticism over the PM’s relief package, Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria clarified that the Rs 1,600 crore was “token money” and that more funds would follow. However, no further grants have been released yet.
The state submitted its detailed memorandum to the Centre on October 10 but has not received a response. Officials said the Union government has asked Punjab to prepare a separate report on damaged houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).
Sources said a Centre-appointed team under the Post Disaster Need Assessment (PDNA) had already toured all districts. The final report is expected to be prepared in consultation with senior state officials. The PDNA applies once a state is declared severely flooded, a designation Punjab received after the government stated that all districts were affected. “After PDNA, we are certain to get more funds from the Centre. This would be in addition to what we sought in the memorandum,” a senior functionary said.
Demand list
The Punjab government said it had released Rs 750 crore from its own resources for immediate relief, of which Rs 175 crore has been disbursed so far. “We have decentralised the process; now SDMs (sub-divisional magistrates) can disburse funds directly to affected families,” an official said.
The memorandum to the Centre listed damage across 14 departments, with rural infrastructure, agriculture, and roads among the worst hit. The Rural Development and Panchayat Department reported losses of Rs 3,554 crore; the Revenue Department pegged damages at Rs 2,782 crore; and the Public Works Department sought Rs 1,970 crore for damaged roads and bridges.
The Water Resources Department has sought Rs 1,520 crore for long-term flood-mitigation measures, while the Education Department reported damage to more than 7,200 schools. Losses were also reported across health, livestock, agriculture, and power sectors.
Continuing strain
This row over flood relief has unfolded against increasingly strained relations between the AAP-led Punjab government and the BJP-led Centre. Over the past year, the two sides have clashed on issues ranging from pending rural development funds and the implementation of central schemes to the Governor’s interventions in legislative matters. The AAP government has accused the Centre of using financial levers to rein in Opposition-ruled states, while the BJP alleges Punjab has failed to comply with procedural norms in seeking flood relief. This ongoing impasse has added another layer to the tensions.
The Mann government and Centre also clashed over the latter’s decision to trim the Senate and Syndicate of Panjab University. As protests broke out on campus, several AAP ministers extended solidarity to the students. The Centre eventually withdrew the notification but protests seeking Senate elections continue on the campus.
The CM’s pending request for a meeting with the PM has reinforced that narrative, officials said. Along with a meeting sought during the floods, Mann had also requested an appointment to invite MOdi for the state’s commemoration of the 350th martyrdom day of Guru Tegh Bahadur. “We have yet to hear from the PMO. The CM only wants to invite him. He was able to personally invite President Droupadi Murmu, but not the PM,” an official said.