Assuring fulsome support and cooperation to the distressed families of youth stuck in strife-torn Iraq, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday said that the State Government was constantly in touch with the Central Government to ensure safe and prompt release of the sons of the soil.
Badal, interacting with a delegation of family members of such youth who met him at the sidelines of a political conference, said that he was personally keeping a close liaison with the Union Government and the officers of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to ensure safe and prompt return of every Punjabi stuck up in strife torn Iraq.
Expressing satisfaction over the efforts made by the Centre in this regard, he exhorted the distressed families to have faith on the Central Government which was not leaving any stone unturned for safely evacuating every single Indian from Iraq.
Badal also assured them that on its part, the State Government was making strenuous efforts to expedite the process for release of next of their kin, who were trapped in Iraqi civil war.
Chief Minister said that he had been regularly taking up the matter with the Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who had informed him that the Centre was exploiting all diplomatic channels for ensuring early release of all Punjabis trapped in Iraq.
“Union Government has assured me that it would make sure that every Indian returns to his home safely irrespective of the fact whether he possesses relevant immigration documents or not….Both the Centre and the State Governments are duty bound to bail out all panic stricken families from the crisis and we are leaving no stone unturned for this cause,” said Badal.
On the request of delegation regarding financial assistance to them, the Chief Minister also directed Amritsar Deputy Commissioner to immediately release pending assistance to these families. He assured the delegation that the state government was solidly behind them in this grave crisis.
It may be recalled that Badal had announced to grant financial assistance of Rs 20,000 per month to the distressed families of 40 Punjabis stuck up in Mosul in order to bail them out from the financial stringency in these difficult times.