Dawn – Newspaper | 2025-09-28 02:24
According to a report by Dawn… • PPP leaders insist BISP data best suited for flood relief
• Maryam says Punjab is working while other provinces are busy criticising it
• 2,200 survey teams with 10,000 personnel from army, other depts deployed in the province
• Azma Bokhari threatens to sue Nadeem Afzal Chan over loan claim
ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: As the Punjab government on Saturday launched a survey to assess the losses caused by recent floods, the PPP urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to accept its demand for providing immediate relief to the flood-affected people through the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).
The PML-N and the PPP — coalition partners at the Centre and in Punjab — have been at odds over how to help the flood victims, with the former’s government in Punjab insisting on using its own resources, while the latter is adamant about channelling the aid through the BISP.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, PPP Secretary General Humayun Khan, Senator Palwasha Khan and the party’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa leader Muhammad Ali Shah Bacha criticised the Punjab government, saying that the BISP already had the required data and was the most effective mechanism to assist flood-hit families.
Humayun Khan said the people were enduring severe hardships due to the floods, recalling that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had visited flood-affected areas in Punjab, and reiterated the demand for immediate relief through the BISP.
Palwasha Khan expressed regret over what she termed “unfortunate remarks” from some PML-N ministers against the PPP despite being coalition partners. “It is regrettable that the Punjab government has used such language for its coalition partner. The Punjab government says it will not bow down to anyone. Then why go to the IMF? The impression is being created that Punjab belongs to one party. Punjab is not the domain of any one party; similarly, no province is the exclusive domain of any party. All provinces of Pakistan belong to all Pakistanis,” she said.
She proposed that the electricity bills of flood-affected families be waived until they fully recover. She said the scale of the damage caused by the floods was immense and could not yet be fully estimated.
She recalled that BISP funds had previously been disbursed during the holy month of Ramazan and asked: “Why does the name of BISP cause so much pain?”
Without elaborating, she said that when the Punjab chief minister faced challenges, “the most vocal voices of support came from Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and the PPP”.
Ali Shah Bacha criticised not only the PML-N but also the PTI’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government for what he called its failure to help flood victims despite being in power in the province for the past 12 years. He said the floods in KP were different in nature from those in Punjab and Sindh, as they were caused by cloudbursts that wiped out entire villages and caused hundreds of deaths.
“The prime minister and the chief minister came for just one day, distributed cheques and left,” Mr Bacha said, terming the role of both the federal and provincial governments in rescue and relief efforts “disappointing”.
“The Punjab chief minister says they do not need the PPP’s advice. But when the PML-N government is in trouble, it remembers the PPP and its leadership. When the PML-N wants votes on a bill, it turns to Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari,” he added.
“If Maryam Nawaz is the daughter of Nawaz Sharif, then don’t forget that Bilawal Bhutto is the son of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and the grandson of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto,” he remarked.
Flood losses survey
The Punjab government launched a survey to assess the losses suffered by people in the province due to recent floods, but refrained from giving any timeline for completing the exercise or for the start of compensation payments to the more than four million affected residents.
“Some 2,200 survey teams comprising 10,000 members of Pakistan Army, revenue, agriculture and livestock departments and district administration will carry out the survey. Full compensation to the affected families — Rs1 million for a completely destroyed house, Rs500,000 for a partially damaged house, Rs500,000 for loss of livestock, and Rs20,000 per acre (up to 12 acres) for farmers — will be provided based on the survey report,” Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said at the launch of the Punjab Flood Survey Campaign.
“We will make sure that every single flood victim is compensated and resettled. These survey teams are my eyes, ears and hands,” she said, administering an oath to the survey teams, whom she described as the “sons and daughters of Punjab”.
Indirectly responding to criticism from the PTI and PPP over what they termed her ‘flood photo/video shoot,’ the chief minister said: “If someone is working, the camera should show it because the public deserves to know what its CM is doing. We don’t seek the camera as the real work is happening, it speaks for itself.”
She said Punjab was working while other provinces were busy criticising it. The chief minister said she was often asked how she coped with criticism. “I say Punjab is progressing and that is why criticism exists. We close our ears to negativity and keep our eyes fixed on the goal,” she remarked, adding that people from other provinces wished to live in Punjab.
She thanked Pir Pagara for appreciating Punjab’s flood management.
The CM criticised the PPP for suggesting the use of the BISP database to help flood-affected people. “Distributing Rs10,000 to each flood-affected person through BISP data will do no good,” she said.
The PPP leadership, including MNA Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari, had urged the Punjab government to use BISP data instead of undertaking a lengthy survey to provide immediate relief to flood victims.
Tensions over loan remarks
As the dispute between the two coalition partners over the BISP issue continued, senior PPP leader Nadeem Afzal Chan said on X: “Punjab has emerged as the biggest borrower among all provinces, securing a staggering Rs405 billion loan from the State Bank in just the first 38 days (July 1 to August 8, 2025) of the current fiscal year (2025-26).”
Responding to the claim, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari threatened to sue Mr Chan under defamation laws and the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca).
“Chan Sahib, you were a decent man, but for the past few days it seems you are either under mental stress or deliberately running fake propaganda against Punjab,” she said, emphasising that the facts about the loan issue had already been shared with the media on Aug 26. “Now repeating this false narrative falls under Peca.” Ms Bokhari added that under the Punjab Defamation Bill, Mr Chan would have to prove the “fabricated news” in court.
Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2025 complete report is on below link.
