CM Mann must clarify where the Rs. 12,000 crore SDRF fund is: Tarun Chugh

Chandigarh, September 12, 2025: BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh said that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s press conference raised more questions than it answered. “You cannot run disaster management on declarations and damage-control optics. People want relief in hand, not headline figures,” Chugh said, reacting to the CM’s claims on compensation timelines and funds.

Chugh questioned the shifting figures around public money. “On one hand, CM Mann claims Punjab has received only about Rs. 1,500 crore. On the other hand, the administration’s own statements acknowledge sizable entries in SDRF/NDRF accounts over the years. Which version should Punjabis trust? If money exists on paper, why has it not reached farmers, labourers, and households on the ground?” he asked.

Calling the “Rs. 60,000 crore” GST-loss claim a manufactured number with no formal break-up on record, Chugh said, “Stop inflating numbers to pick fights with the Centre. Put out the document trail. If the figure is real, table the department-wise and district-wise computation, the signatories, and the dates. Otherwise, apologise to the people of Punjab for misleading them.”

Chugh contrasted promises with delivery. “In 2023, farmers were promised Rs. 15,000 per acre. Many are still waiting. Now the CM talks of Rs. 20,000 per acre and enhanced house-loss aid. Announcements don’t heal wounds—time-bound payments do. Commit to a verified special girdawari, publish beneficiary lists online, and disburse before Diwali as you yourself said,” he noted.

Criticising administrative absenteeism by AAP leaders, including the Chief Minister, in the early days of flooding, Chugh said, “Punjab under AAP has a government without governance. NGOs, social organisations, and ordinary citizens did the heavy lifting. The state must now catch up—fast.” He also questioned the role of AAP’s central leadership—Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia—in Punjab’s day-to-day administration. “Using the CM’s aircraft, fleet, and staff without any constitutional responsibility is not moral governance. It is a political misuse of state machinery,” he said.

Setting out specific demands, Chugh said the Punjab government should publish a white paper within seven days on SDRF/NDRF inflows, balances, interest accruals, and utilisation since 2022; list district-wise compensation sanctioned and paid after the current floods; and notify a fixed seven-day public-objection window after each village-level survey, with final disbursement immediately thereafter. “If the Mann government is confident about its numbers, it should have no fear of transparency,” Chugh added.

Chugh also flagged rampant complaints of illegal mining and its role in weakening Dhussi bandhs across Punjab, demanding a CBI inquiry into all mining tenders in the state. He cited ongoing illegal sand extraction, including Sasrali village (Ludhiana) where an FIR was filed on April 18, 2025. “Yet the Mann government has taken no meaningful action. The sand mafia thrives under political protection. That is why I call this a ‘Mann-Made Disaster,’” Chugh said.