Stubble burning: AAP demands special package, MSP on alternate crops | Chandigarh News

CHANDIGARH: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday reiterated the demand that the Centre and Haryana should set up a fund to tackle stubble burning, besides purchase of alternate crops on minimum support price (MSP) to promote crop diversification.
AAP chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang said the state government had taken steps such as banning the long-duration paddy variety of PUSA-44, providing crop residue management (CRM) machines to farmers and giving a push to crop diversification in the state by promoting cotton and maize.

“The Centre should now ensure that cotton and sugarcane are bought on MSP,” he said.
Kang added that in recent months the Punjab government had made efforts for increasing canal-based irrigation by 15 per cent so that underground water is saved. “Punjab’s farmers produce paddy to fill the food bowl of the country and it is supplied to other states. The state took the lead during the Green Revolution,” he said.
“Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal have asked the Haryana government and the Modi government to set up a fund to tackle this problem, but the Centre has rejected the proposal. Now the Supreme Court has directed all governments including the central government to take measures to stop stubble burning and curb the pollution in Delhi,” he said.
Last year, the Centre had rejected the Punjab government’s proposal for cash incentive to prevent farmers from burning paddy stubble on the plea that the proposal was a ‘negative incentive prone to misuse.’
In the wake of the worsening air quality in Delhi-National Capital Region, the Supreme Court on Tuesday (November 7) sternly directed the Governments of Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana to take immediate steps to stop stubble burning by farmers.
Claiming that stubble burning cases had registered a decline of 70 per cent in the last two years, Kang said that Punjab farmers alone cannot be held responsible for the pollution situation of Delhi as UP, Haryana, Rajasthan and Centre also ned to take necessary measures to curb the problem of stubble burning.
“Since the formation of our government in Punjab, the Mann government is constantly taking steps to curb the issue of stubble burning in Punjab, their efforts are even showing results as cases of stubble burning have significantly decreased this year,” he said.
“MSP of other crops like cotton, corn, citrus fruits and lentils should be ensured so that farmers have other options besides paddy and wheat. The Central Government should also set up a much needed fund to tackle this issue,” he said.
Kang said taking penal action against farmers violating the norms would be the last resort and was necessary in cases like in Bathinda where an officer was forced to set paddy straw on fire by a group of farmers.