DERA GHAZI KHAN: Without naming Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz criticised his remarks over flood relief on Wednesday, saying that Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP)’s Rs10,000 would do little to help flood-hit families.
Speaking at the inauguration of the electric bus project in Dera Ghazi Khan, Maryam said that Punjab was facing the worst floods in its history, with continuous rains for the last four months.
Earlier, Bilawal strongly criticised the federal government over its response to the recent floods, particularly in South Punjab. He also questioned the government’s reluctance to use the BISP for immediate flood relief, calling it the “only effective mechanism” available at the federal level.
“An respectable person said why doesn’t the government appeal to the world, begging for funds in the name of God. I want to tell him, keep such advice to yourself. Rs10,000 under BISP will not be enough for flood victims. Maryam Nawaz will not give them Rs10,000 but Rs1 million,” she said.
She said that while the PPP was a coalition partner, the party had engaged in politics over Punjab’s flood crisis.
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“President Asif Zardari is like an elder to me and Bilawal is like a younger brother, but when disaster strikes Sindh, Punjab stands by it. I don’t want to comment on Sindh’s condition right now,” she added.
Maryam said she would not beg the world for aid. “I am Nawaz Sharif’s daughter. I will not extend my hand for assistance. No self-respecting person can do that. How long will we keep begging others?” she asked.
She further criticised what she termed an “easy solution” of handing out Rs5,000 or Rs10,000 through BISP. “What about those who lost homes worth millions or whose crops have been destroyed? I want to rebuild every home,” she said.
The Punjab CM said the province would handle its own affairs with funds it receives through the NFC Award. “If provinces don’t spend those billions on their people, are they just meant to sit in the banks?” she asked, adding that Punjab had provided tents, cooked meals and rations to flood victims in southern Punjab.
Maryam also stressed that she had neither sought nor received a single rupee from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for flood relief.