Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari on Tuesday announced that the provincial government would issue relief cards in the names of individual flood victims, funded entirely from its own resources rather than through the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).
Unveiling details of the compensation plan, she said the package includes Rs20,000 per acre for crop losses, Rs1 million for completely destroyed houses, Rs500,000 for partially damaged houses, and Rs500,000 for loss of cattle. “All of these funds are from the Punjab government’s own resources. We haven’t asked anyone for financial aid,” she stressed.
Bokhari noted that Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and her team were personally supervising relief operations in flood-hit areas. “The chief minister and her team are continuously on the ground, working tirelessly. You haven’t seen such governance before,” she remarked.
She also pointed to ongoing development work despite the floods. Under the Apni Chhat, Apna Ghar housing scheme, 80,000 houses are under construction, a number that will reach 100,000 by December, she said.
Addressing a press conference at the Directorate General Public Relations, the minister warned against politicising the disaster. “The relief cards will ensure that help reaches the right people without making them suffer further. We are focused on serving, not politicising,” she said.
Bokhari criticised those “advancing their political agendas” in the middle of the crisis, taking a swipe at the Sindh government: “Should we take advice from those who have turned Sindh into archaeological ruins?”
She added that several federal leaders from Sindh, including PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gilani, have themselves acknowledged Punjab’s effective response.
“Of course, questions can be raised about why preparations weren’t made during previous floods. But this time, we are fully ready on every front,” she concluded.
