Rs74b given to flood victims under BISP, NA told

Minister says compensation cheques provided to 115 heirs

ISLAMABAD:

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbasi on Monday apprised the National Assembly that the incumbent government had provided Rs70-74 billion emergency relief to the flood victims from its own resources under the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).

Replying to various supplementary questions during the Question Hour, he said compensation cheques to the legal heirs of 115 flood victims who lost their lives in Punjab had already been given while only three were remaining due to some clearance issues by respective deputy commissioners of the districts.

He said that the government had announced provision of Rs1 million to each deceased person, Rs500,000 and Rs250,000 for fully destroyed and partial destroyed houses in the flood, respectively.

He said the government had issued funds to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). The NDMA had received data of the houses destroyed in recent floods from the three provinces, while data from two federating units was still awaited, he added.

The fundamental responsibility to manage the disasters with all allied activities rested with the respective provincial and district departments, while the NDMA acted as national backup support at federal level, he said.

The minister said Pakistan's Disaster Management System was structured in a three-tier devolved system with the primary onus on provincial and district levels. The NDMA effectively coordinated the disaster-related activities with the provincial governments by extending due help under the NDMA Act on the direction of the prime minister and the federal government. He said the rates for loss of agriculture land and livestock had also been revised upwards.