Pakistan’s Punjab province is ramping up efforts to help families hit hard by recent floods. On Saturday, the provincial government kicked off a major survey to tally the damage, while the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) pushed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to deliver quick flood relief through the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).
The PML-N-led Punjab government and its coalition partner PPP are clashing over how to get aid to flood victims. Punjab wants to handle distribution using its own setup, but PPP insists BISP’s ready database makes it faster and fairer for reaching affected families.
At a fiery press conference in Islamabad, PPP leaders like Secretary General Humayun Khan, Senator Palwasha Khan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Muhammad Ali Shah Bacha slammed the Punjab administration. “People are suffering badly right now,” Khan said, pointing out that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had already visited flood-struck areas in Punjab. He repeated the call for BISP to step in immediately.
Palwasha Khan fired back at PML-N ministers for their harsh words against PPP, despite their alliance. “It’s sad that coalition partners talk like this,” she said. “Punjab isn’t owned by one party—it’s for all Pakistanis, just like every province.” She demanded a waiver on electricity bills for flood-hit homes until they bounce back and questioned why BISP’s name stirs such resistance, noting it had successfully handed out funds during Ramadan. Khan also highlighted PPP’s support during tough times for Punjab’s leadership.
From Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Bacha accused both PML-N in Punjab and PTI in his province of dropping the ball on flood relief. He described devastating cloudbursts that destroyed villages and claimed lives, adding that officials only showed up briefly to hand out checks before vanishing.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz launched the flood survey campaign with a strong commitment. She revealed 2,200 teams—totaling 10,000 people from the Pakistan Army, revenue, agriculture, livestock departments, and local admins—would fan out to assess the losses. No firm timeline yet for finishing the survey or starting payments to the over four million affected residents.
Nawaz outlined generous compensation: 1 million Pakistani rupees for fully destroyed homes, 500,000 rupees for partial damage, another 500,000 for lost livestock, and up to 20,000 rupees per acre for farmers, capped at 12 acres. “We’ll ensure every flood victim gets compensated and resettled,” she promised, calling the teams “my eyes, ears, and hands—the sons and daughters of Punjab.”
Addressing jabs from PTI and PPP about her sharing photos and videos from flood sites, Nawaz defended the coverage. “If the chief minister is working, the public deserves to see it,” she said. “We’re focused on progress in Punjab while others just criticize. We tune out the noise and aim for the goal.” She added that people from other provinces envy Punjab’s drive.
Nawaz also pushed back on PPP’s BISP idea, saying a one-size-fits-all payout of 10,000 rupees per person wouldn’t cut it. Earlier, PPP figures like Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari had urged using BISP’s data to skip a drawn-out survey and speed up flood relief in Pakistan.
Tensions boiled over further when senior PPP leader Nadeem Afzal Chan posted on X about Punjab borrowing a whopping 405 billion rupees from the State Bank in just 38 days of the new fiscal year. Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari hit back hard, threatening lawsuits under defamation laws and the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA). “You’ve been spreading fake news,” she said, noting facts were already out in August media briefings. Bokhari warned Chan would need to prove his claims in court if pushed.
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