Flood affected: Farmers protest govt’s ‘bias’ in aid distribution

Say chief minister’s promises have proved a publicity stunt.

MULTAN:

The provincial government distributed Rs54 million cheques among 1850 families of flood affected in Muzaffargarh on Sunday.

Minister for Cooperatives Iqbal Chanar chaired the event. He distributed Rs15,000 and Rs30,000 cheques for house repairs.

Dera Ghazi Khan Commissioner Muhammad Asif Qureshi told the recipients that the government had set up 3,200 flood relief camps, distributed 12,000 bags of food and 80,000kg rice among flood victims in south Punjab. He said the government had allocated Rs630 million for flood victims in Rahim Yar Khan, Rajanpur and Muzaffargarh districts.

Several parliamentarians from Muzaffargarh including Sibtain Raza, Imran Qureshi, Qaswar Kareem, Zeeshan Gurmani, Murtaza Raheem, Hammad Nawaz, Alamdar Qureshi, Khan Muhammad Jatoi and Ahmed Yar Hiraaj were present at the occasion.



More than 300 farmers from Muzaffargarh who were not among the cheque recipients protested against the provincial government on Sunday after the ceremony and on Monday morning. Farmers from villages and sub-districts of Muzaffargarh gathered at Zila Council Chowk and held placards and chanted slogans against the government.

They said that they had been affected the most in the floods. They said that Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had promised to provide small farmers free seeds, fertiliser and stipends during his visit to Alipur, Muzaffargarh, Jatoi and Uch Sharif after the floods in September and October last year.

The farmers said this had only been a publicity stunt for the chief minister as they were yet to receive any kind of relief.  They said the chief minister had distributed millions of rupees among farmers in Rajanpur to help his election campaign.

The farmers threatened to go to court over the matter and said they would complain about the discrimination on every forum. They said the government had only served to increase the grievances of residents of south Punjab.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government had proved that it only served its own political interests. “This is why the movement for a separate province is gaining momentum in south Punjab,” a farmer said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2014.