Stubble burning: Unhappy with Punjab govt plan, farmers want compensation

Farmers have indicated that they will continue with the practice unless the govt compensates them suitably for the expenses they will incur by adopting alternative methods of disposing of crop residue

As paddy harvesting begins in parts of Punjab, the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government is struggling to deal with the menace of stubble burning. Farmers have indicated that they will continue with the practice unless the government compensates them suitably for the expenses they will incur by adopting alternative methods of disposing of crop residue.

“After the Centre did not entertain AAP’s demand to contribute Rs 1,500 of the Rs 2,500 that the state government has promised, it has just been organising meetings without coming up with viable alternatives,” says Sukhdev Singh Kokri Kalan, Punjab general secretary, Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan). 

The demand for compensation comes after the state government on Monday decided to extend the deadline for applications for subsidy on the Happy Seeder. And it mandated brick kilns to buy and use some percentage of paddy straw as fuel. It is also launching a mega awareness campaign to make farmers aware of the ill effects of burning stubble and to inform them about its management.

Punjab Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Higher Education and Environment Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, New and Renewable Energy Minister Aman Arora, and School Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains chalked out a plan for the campaign that begins on September 27.  

The new action plan 

Under the first phase of this campaign, university and college students will be enrolled for training to educate farmers. Besides this, the deadline to apply for Happy Seeder has been extended by 15 days so that the maximum number of farmers can use these machines to plant wheat without burning stubble. And the agriculture department will spray decomposer solution across 5,000 acres as a pilot project.

But the farmers aren’t relenting yet.

“We are already aware of the ill effects of burning stubble, but the government should find ways to manage it rather than send youngsters to villages,” says Gurpreet Singh, a farmer in Patiala district. “Why should buying stubble be mandatory only for brick kilns. Why are other industries not buying stubble for biofuel?”

Balbir Singh Rajewal, founder of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Rajewal), adds, “We don’t support stubble-burning, but governments should fully implement the National Green Tribunal’s 2015 order, which promises compensation to the tune of Rs 2,500 to Rs 15,000 depending on land sizes. Machines should also be provided on subsidy.” He cautions that the government will have to face stiff resistance if it takes strict action against farmers for burning stubble.

While criticising the government for not opening factories that can buy stubble, Kokri Kalan says, “Doing so will not only solve the stubble problem but also help deal with the issue of rampant unemployment in the state.”

While paddy harvesting is yet to pick up pace in Punjab, already 14 stubble-burning incidents have been reported. The government data based on satellite imagery shows that in the ongoing kharif season till September 16, as many as 14 farm fires have been reported in Amritsar (11) and Tarn Taran (3).