India, Sept. 8 -- Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday announced a relief package for the flood-affected people of Punjab, including Rs.20,000 per acre compensation for farmers, Rs.4 lakh ex gratia for loss of life, and permission to landowners to remove and sell the sand deposited in their fields by floodwaters.

The chief minister made the announcement in a live broadcast from a private hospital in Mohali after a meeting of the state cabinet in Chandigarh. Mann joined the meeting from the hospital where he was admitted on September 5 due to exhaustion and a low heart rate.

Mann said that the government will give a compensation of Rs.20,000 per acre to the flood-hit farmers of the state. He said this is the highest-ever per acre compe...