KANJU: On Wednesday, the Prime Minister of Pakistan and President of Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Shehbaz Sharif visited Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to review flood relief activities. He announced a grant of Rs10 billion for rehabilitation and relief operations.
Mr Sharif visited the areas of Kalam and Swat and met with the survivors of the flood. During the visit, the premier addressed a public gathering and promised that the federal government would provide every possible help.
He also said that the federal government had announced a Rs15 billion grant for Sindh and Rs10 billion financial aid for Balochistan. The disbursement of funds will be managed by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the federal government and the provincial government.
Interestingly, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is governed by Pakistan Tehreek-I-Insaf, which refused to cooperate with the government for the release of the loan tranche by International Monetary Funds (IMF). However, PTI has neither commented about declining the grant for flood relief nor applauded the announcement by Mr Sharif.
The prime minister also pointed out that through NDMA and Benazir Income Support, Rs28 billion are distributed among the flood victims. He said that families who lost a member would get Rs1 million, and other affected families would receive Rs25,000. Mr Sharif also thanked Turkiye and UAE for sending financial support.
Earlier, the PTI Chairman Imran Khan had held a telethon and ‘announced’ Rs5 billion for flood victims but has not clarified yet how the amount would be distributed. It is also not clear in which areas the pledged amount would be used.
Mr Sharif’s announcement of Rs10 billion has come after the purported leaked audiotape of former finance minister Shaukat Tarin and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Finance Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra where they were discussing as to how they could sabotage the IMF deal.