Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking financial assistance to farmers for managing crop residue, which will help reverse the dangerous trend of stubble burning.
He has also requested Prime Minister Modi to convene a meeting of Chief Ministers of the affected States along and the Union Ministers for agriculture, food and environment on the issue.
Capt. Singh, who had earlier in July this year raised the issue, has again sought the Prime Minister’s intervention, for arresting the problem of paddy straw burning and asked for a bonus of ₹100 per quintal as incentive to compensate the farmers to manage the crop residue scientifically.
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He pointed out that most of north India, including New Delhi, is currently in the throes of a environmental crisis, induced largely by burning of paddy straw stubble in the paddy-growing areas of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
“However, what is probably not being understood in proper perspective is that a problem which is essentially scientific and economic cannot be tackled through other means, including coercion,” he said.