Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has ruled out confrontation with the farmers on the issue of stubble burning, saying his government would not add to the financial burden of the beleaguered farmers, many of whom were committing suicide under economic hardship. In his remarks to a TV channel on Monday, the Chief Minister made it clear that while his government was committed to environmental protection, he would not pressurize the farmers in the process of implementing the ban on burning of paddy residue.
There was no question of penalizing the farmers, who could barely make both ends meet, said Captain Amarinder, adding that the law and order machinery was not enough to solve the problem, which required collective efforts by the Government of India and state governments for a meaningful resolution. The Chief Minister said he was actively pursuing with the Central Government the state’s request for compensation to be included in MSP for farmers to manage paddy residue and was hopeful it would come through. Though there was a lot of talk of machines that could manage stubble in the fields, those were futuristic plans which did not resolve the immediate problem, said Captain Amarinder, adding that the problem was of gigantic proportions in Punjab, where almost one farmer death was being reported every day due to financial burden.
The Chief Minister rejected a suggestion that prizes be given to farmers who refrain from burning stubble, saying with 17.5 lakh farmers in the state and the issue affecting each of them, that was not a feasible solution. -On the issue of the implementation of the `Open Defecation Scheme’ in the state, Captain Amarinder said by the end of this year, every household in the state would have a toilet, along with the basic related facilities, under the structured manner in which the programme was being executed in every district. The scheme, he said, was started by him during his previous tenure as chief minister and his government was now giving Rs 15000 to every household to build the necessary infrastructure under it. Referring to the problem of air pollution, the Chief Minister said monitoring was being done through mobile stations as well as satellite. Electric vehicles were also being considered as a measure to reduce pollution, he said, adding that apart from Mahindra & Mahindra, the Chinese had also shown interest in the same. Pilot projects had been mooted and would be followed by mass execution if found successful, he added.