Chandigarh: Though floodwaters have started to recede, a fresh political storm is brewing in Punjab which in August witnessed its worst floods since 1988. In the eye of the storm is the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF). A day after CM Bhagwant Mann claimed Punjab received only Rs 1,582 crore as the central government’s contribution to the SDRF since April 2022, state BJP chief Sunil Jakhar challenged this claim afresh Saturday.
Taking to X, Jakhar shared a 2024 report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to suggest that Punjab’s disaster relief fund had Rs 9,041 crore as on 31 March, 2023. Mann made no mention of these funds in his press conference the previous day, where he gave an year-wise breakdown of SDRF funds—central allocations and state spending.
Punjab, Mann said, spent Rs 649 crore of the Rs 1,582 crore allocated to it between 10 September, 2025, and 1 April, 2022 when the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) came to power.
Countering Mann’s claim, Jakhar wrote on X that funds from the SDRF were “lying unused” with the Punjab government. He then cited the CAG report, for the year ended 31 March 2023, to suggest that Punjab had Rs 9,041.74 crore in SDRF funds, and the state government “violated central government rules by not investing these funds appropriately”.
ਭਗਵੰਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਮਾਨ ਜੀ ਆਹ ਰਹੇ ਐਸ ਡੀ ਆਰ ਐਫ ਦੇ ਪੈਸੇ।
ਇਹ ਕੈਗ ਦੀ ਰਿਪੋਰਟ ਹੈ ਜਿਸ ਵਿੱਚ ਬੜੀ ਸਪਸ਼ਟਤਾ ਨਾਲ ਦਰਜ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਕੋਲ 31 ਮਾਰਚ 2023 ਨੂੰ ਐਸਡੀ ਆਰ ਐਫ ਦੇ 9041.74 ਕਰੋੜ ਰੁਪਏ ਪਏ ਸਨ ਅਤੇ ਰਿਪੋਰਟ ਅਨੁਸਾਰ ਕੇਂਦਰ ਸਰਕਾਰ ਦੇ ਨਿਯਮਾਂ ਦਾ ਉਲੰਘਣ ਕਰਦਿਆਂ ਸੂਬਾ ਸਰਕਾਰ ਨੇ ਇਸ ਨੂੰ ਉਚਿਤ ਨਿਵੇਸ਼ ਵੀ ਨਹੀਂ ਕੀਤਾ ਸੀ
ਇਸ ਤੋਂ… pic.twitter.com/9FxhJg7TxJ
— Sunil Jakhar (@sunilkjakhar) September 13, 2025
Jakhar’s charge also flies in the face of a categoric claim made by state finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema who in a press conference Wednesday claimed the Government of India had not paid Punjab a “single penny” for disaster management or mitigation.
A flurry of press conferences have been held since by leaders of the ruling AAP and the opposition Congress, BJP and Akali Dal over the SDRF funds that were meant to tide over displacement of thousands and damage worth lakhs caused to the ripe paddy crop.
Constituted under Section 48 (1) (a) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the SDRF is the primary fund available with states for responses to disasters notified by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The Centre contributes 75 percent of the SDRF allocation in two equal installments each year, while the state contributes the remaining 25 percent. The Centre’s contribution is higher for the North-Eastern and Himalayan states.
A state government can use up to 10 percent of the funds available under SDRF to provide immediate relief to victims of state-specific ‘disasters’.
Also Read: Did ignored BBMB, IMD warnings aggravate flood damage? Anatomy of Punjab deluge
The case of the ‘unspent’ funds
The controversy over SDRF funds erupted after PM Narendra Modi conducted an aerial survey of Punjab’s flood-ravaged areas Tuesday. He then held a review meeting in Gurdaspur where he announced a financial assistance of Rs 1,600 crore for the state.
The Press Information Bureau (PIB) in a statement said this was “in addition to the Rs 12,000 crore already in the state’s kitty”.
The Opposition in the state latched on to this and questioned the Mann government over disaster relief funds ‘lying unspent’. Hours after Modi’s visit, Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal told reporters, “The people of Punjab are suffering, and the government is sitting on such a huge amount of money, which could have been used to give relief to the people.”
Cheema, the finance minister, held a press conference the next day where he called the BJP a party of “liars” and the financial assistance of Rs 1,600 crore announced by Modi ‘paltry’ and an insult to the people of Punjab. “The Prime Minister hates Punjabis, and this is just another evidence of that,” said Cheema, categorically denying that the state had Rs 12,000 crore in its disaster relief fund, as stated by the central government.
He said the Centre’s claims were part of its “miraculous play of numbers”.
“These are counter entries, which convert into loans, every year. If we spend Rs 12,000 crore today, it will be deducted from our fiscal responsibility and budget management [limit]. This amount is a lie. Moreover, we asked for Rs 20,000 crore for the flood situation. What has the earlier Rs 12,000 crore got to do with it?” he asked.
Pressed further about the Rs 12,000 crore, Cheema maintained: “Punjab does not have any such money … not a penny has been given.”
This was followed by a press conference by Cheema’s cabinet colleague Aman Arora who said that “even if these funds existed,” norms laid down by the Centre for their utilisation were impractical. “The chief minister wrote a letter to the Government of India just 10 days ago to relax these norms,” he said, adding to the confusion about the status of SDRF funds.
That same day, state BJP chief Jakhar addressed the media and said the AAP government could not account for the Rs 12,000 crore since that money had already been diverted for purposes other than disaster relief and management. “It has been used for publicity, for projecting a non-existent government to the people,” he alleged.
Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa, mocked the confusion among AAP ministers in a post on X Thursday. The finance minister is saying ‘not a single penny is left,’ while his cabinet colleague says ‘funds are there but shackled’ and CM Mann is saying ‘substantial funds are available,’ Bajwa wrote, adding, “Three voices, three lies—one truth: Punjab’s people abandoned!”
Where is Punjab’s ₹12,000 CR SDRF?
Finance Min @HarpalCheemaMLA says “not a single penny left.”
Cabinet Min @AroraAmanSunam says “funds are present but shackled.”
CM @BhagwantMann claims “substantial funds available.”
Three voices, three lies — one truth: Punjab’s people… pic.twitter.com/LSWvG8iBAz
— Partap Singh Bajwa (@Partap_Sbajwa) September 11, 2025
Later that evening, Cheema released a detailed breakdown of SDRF funds—central allocations and state spending from 1 April 2022 onwards. He said Punjab received Rs 208 crore from the Centre in FY 2022–23 as contribution to the state disaster relief fund, of which it spent Rs 61 crore. In FY 2023–24, it received Rs 645 crore, of which it spent Rs 420 crore. And in FY 2024–25, it received Rs 488 crore, of which it spent Rs 27 crore.
For the current fiscal, Punjab received Rs 241 crore, of which it spent Rs 140 crore, said Cheema in a statement Thursday evening. “BJP leaders have been shamelessly peddling lies to defame the AAP government. The truth is now before the people, and every single rupee received and spent from SDRF is in the public domain. Unlike BJP, which thrives on deceit and diversion, we believe in transparency and accountability,” the statement added.
Cheema, however, gave no explanation about his earlier claim that the Government of India had not given a single penny to Punjab on account of disaster relief or management.
The controversy took a new turn Friday during Mann’s press conference when Chief Secretary K.A.P. Sinha, who was accompanying the chief minister, said the SDRF amount did exist in the state’s account, but “it cannot be used at the drop of a hat”. The chief secretary clarified that the state’s total disaster relief funds stood at Rs 12,000 crore, including an “entry” of Rs 8,000 crore, and an additional Rs 4,000 crore of interest.
“But we cannot use this money immediately as we act like bankers for this money. It is like an entry in a passbook, where the money is reflecting that it exists in the account, but it cannot be withdrawn all at once,” he said.
Reacting to Sinha’s statements, Jakhar told the media Friday that the AAP government had lost the narrative. “What does the chief secretary mean when he says Punjab is a bank, and the state disaster management funds cannot be used from the bank because it was a mere entry? The chief minister, who is sitting next to the chief secretary, during the press conference, is also unable to explain anything to the public,” he said.
Speaking to the media later Friday, senior Akali Dal leader Daljit Singh Cheema said with both sides making allegations and counter-allegations, it was the duty of the chief minister and the central government to clarify their positions.
“The people of Punjab need to know what the truth is. From whatever has transpired in the past few days, it is clear that the state government has more to hide, and there seems to have been misuse of these funds meant for providing relief to the people during disasters,” he said, demanding full disclosure from the Mann-led AAP government.
What CAG report says
The 2024 CAG report shared by Jakhar has details of the audited accounts of the Punjab government for the year ended 31 March, 2023.
According to it, SDRF had Rs 8,194 crore as on 1 April, 2022. In the next fiscal (2022-2023) another Rs 908.85 crore was transferred to it.
“This included Rs 208 crore from the Centre, Rs 69.33 crore from the state, Rs 125.95 crore refunded from unspent amounts from the previous year, and Rs 637.57 crore in interest to the state government. From the funds, Rs 132 crore was transferred to the State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF),” says the report. It adds that during the year, Rs 61.18 crore was spent from the SDRF, leaving a balance of Rs 9,041.74 crore.
The report also says that as of 31 March, 2023, Punjab had not invested the Rs 9,041.74 crore in the SDRF, which went against central rules, pointing to the possibility of the funds being used for purposes other than intended. The state government also failed to transfer Rs 277.07 crore to the SDRF in FY 2022-23, including the Rs 208 crore from the Centre. Hence, the CAG report notes that the state’s actual expenditure was “understated”.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: Punjab floods are a test for parties. They must act together and fast