PM Shehbaz Sharif visits Shahdat Kot, increases BISP relief aid from Rs28b to Rs70b

QAMBAR/SHAHDAT KOT (APP) – Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday said that the government had decided to increase the flood relief assistance under Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) from the existing Rs 28 billion to Rs 70 billion.

The 2.5 times increase in the volume of the assistance programme has been made in view of the gross damages of lives, infrastructure and crops in the wake of flash floods.

Speaking during his visit to the relief camp set up in Qambar Shahdad Kot, he said that the country witnessed unprecedented loss due to floods.

PM Shehbaz Sharif mentioned that the compensation amount of Rs 25,000 was being given to each flood-affected family to help them recover their financial losses. He expressed concern that the cotton crop in the flood-hit areas of Sindh, which was means of livelihood for locals, was entirely damaged by floods.

He said joint efforts at the national level were need of the hour to mitigate the suffering of the flood-affected people. He said that provision of shelter to the displaced persons was direly needed, adding that the government had placed the order for the purchase of seven million tents.

Medical camps, he said, had also been set up at the relief camps to avert the spread of diseases.

The prime minister expressed gratitude to the friendly countries for extending assistance to Pakistan following the flood losses. He said the magnitude of the disaster was bigger than the capacity of the country to effectively cope. He urged the nation including intelligentsia and media to focus on the flood situation and set aside highlighting politics for the later times.

PM Sharif interacted with the affected people at the relief camp and distributed among them cheques of compensation money. Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto, Federal Minister Salik Hussain and Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah are also accompanying the prime minister.