Punjab announces aid to families of people stuck in Iraq

Chandigarh: The Punjab government on Tuesday announced a financial grant of Rs 20,000 per month to the families of 40 people from the state stuck in strife-torn Iraq`s Mosul area.

"The grant would be paid till further orders in order to bail out the families from the financial stringency in these difficult times," a spokesman said. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today asked all the deputy commissioners to personally visit the families of people who have safely returned from the war-ravaged country to extend them all possible help and support. He also directed his Cabinet colleagues to keep close liaison with the aggrieved families, whose kin had either arrived or still trapped in Iraq, to ensure all sort of necessary support besides apprising them about the steps being taken for their early return. Badal said, "this initiative on the part of ministers and deputy commissioners would go a long way in instilling a sense of confidence and belongingness among them." The chief minister had last week met Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in Delhi to seek her personal intervention for prompt release of and secure safe return of Punjabis to their homeland.