Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Sunday sought immediate intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to release state funds worth Rs 60,000 crore stuck with the Government of India.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Mann apprised him that Punjab is currently grappling with one of the worst flood disasters in decades, impacting nearly 1,000 villages and affecting lakhs of people. He said heavy monsoon rains, coupled with the release of water from dams, have caused extensive flooding in seven districts — Gurdaspur, Kapurthala, Amritsar, Pathankot, Ferozepur, Fazilka and Hoshiarpur. The CM cautioned that the situation may further deteriorate in the coming days.

Mann said that nearly three lakh acres of farmland, primarily paddy fields, remain submerged, leading to devastating crop losses weeks before harvest. He added that widespread loss of livestock has also severely impacted rural households dependent on dairy and animal husbandry.

He further informed the Prime Minister that Punjab has suffered a permanent revenue loss of Rs 49,727 crore due to the implementation of GST and the transition from the VAT regime, for which no compensation has been provided by the Centre.

Similarly, Mann pointed out that reduction of RDF and MDF in recent years has ballooned to over Rs 8,000 crore, while the Union government has also scrapped PMGSY projects in Punjab worth Rs 828 crore, which could adversely impact rural connectivity in the long run. He urged the Prime Minister to release all pending funds of Punjab, amounting to Rs 60,000 crore.

The CM said that while substantial funds are available in the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), the existing norms under the Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines are grossly inadequate to compensate farmers, livestock owners and vulnerable communities for their scale of losses.

He termed the notified norms “totally unrealistic”, citing that the input subsidy for crop loss of 33% and above is fixed at Rs 17,000 per hectare — translating to Rs 6,800 per acre.

Calling such compensation “a cruel joke” on farmers, Mann said the Punjab government is already contributing an additional Rs 8,200 per acre to raise relief to Rs 15,000 per acre. He stressed that, with crops close to harvest, farmers must receive at least Rs 50,000 per acre.

He urged the Prime Minister to revise SDRF compensation norms to match ground realities and reiterated that the state government will continue to contribute 25% as mandated under the scheme.