Chandigarh: In a major step, Punjab government has decided to provide Rs 2,500 per acre as compensation to small and marginal farmers to desist them from burning paddy straw. The state government has decided to dole out relief of Rs 2,500 per acre to farmers who do not burn paddy straw. The money will come directly into the farmers’ bank accounts. Howevrr, the plan comes with a few riders.
To get the relief farmers will have to fulfil two major conditions. The land holding of the entire family of the farmer should not exceed five acres. The total land holding in the name of the farmer, his wife and children below the age of 18 years must not exceed five acres.
Secondly, the farmer should not be cultivating basmati variety of rice, as government does not procure basmati rice. Besides this, the farmer should not have burnt stubble on any part of his land.
The decision comes after the Supreme Court order that farmers must be given compensation of Rs 100 per quintal or other amount to encourage them not to burn paddy stubble. The decision, taken keeping in mind the majority of marginal farmers, will benefit the farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
The court had also directed the central and state governments to make machines available to small and marginal farmers to weed out paddy stubble without any cost.
Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana is a cause of air pollution in Delhi and governments of both states are taking several steps to check the practice.
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