Punjab speaker announces ₹1 lakh for panchayats shunning stubble burning in his constituency

Punjab Vidhan Sabha speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan represents the Kotkapura constituency, which falls in Faridkot, a district which during the last season had a high count of farm fire incidents.

Punjab Vidhan Sabha speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan on Sunday announced to give ₹1 lakh to each village panchayat in his constituency that doesn’t burn paddy stubble this season. The amount will be given from his discretionary quota.

Last month, the state governments of Delhi and Punjab had proposed to give ₹2,500 as per acre incentive to paddy growers for not burning crop residue. (ANI)

Sandhwan represents the Kotkapura constituency, which falls in Faridkot, a district which during the last season had a high count of farm fire incidents.

Last month, the state governments of Delhi and Punjab had proposed to give ₹2,500 as per acre incentive to paddy growers for not burning crop residue.

In the proposal, the two state governments – both led by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), agreed to make per acre contribution of ₹500 each and sought the rest of the amount, i.e ₹1,500, from the Centre.

After the Centre turned down the proposal, the two state governments also decided to close the proposal.

He also cited the gurbani, he said the people of Punjab love and respect the nature and thus will shun the harmful practice of stubble burning, which leads to environmental degradation. “The day is not far when people of the state will completely abandon the trend of burning paddy and wheat straw,” he said.

Last week, he had honoured eight farmers from Faridkot, 13 from Moga, 10 from Sangrur, one from Rupnagar, 10 from Gurdaspur and seven each from Ludhiana and Barnala for choosing not to burn paddy stubble.