Punjab CM seeks incentives for farmers to stop stubble burning

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide incentives to paddy farmers to dissuade them from the harmful practice of stubble burning.

The burning of stubble causes large-scale air pollution not only in Punjab but also across the whole of north India.

In a fresh letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister has sought bonus on paddy procurement from the central government to incentivize farmers not to burn paddy straw.

Citing his earlier letter written in July to Modi, the Chief Minister has once again requested the prime minister for a bonus of Rs.100/- per quintal over and above the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for paddy to compensate farmers for the additional financial burden necessitated for proper disposal of paddy straw.

He urged the prime minister to direct the ministry concerned in the Government of India to announce such bonus, to be paid only to those farmers who manage the paddy residue/ stubble without burning.

In the letter, the Chief Minister pointed out that the farmers burn paddy straw - estimated to be 20 million tonnes every season - because of the short period available to them to prepare the land for sowing the next wheat crop.

The farmers have neither the financial resources nor the requisite manpower to manage such a huge stock of paddy in the three weeks they get for sowing the next crop, he added.

Singh also cited the National Green Tribunal judgments on the matter, pointing out that the tribunal had ordered the Punjab government to ensure no paddy straw is burnt by the farmers. It had also said that the farmers who burn paddy straw should be penalized.