Stubble burning: Govt ropes-in students to create awareness

Cabinet ministers Amana Arora, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer and Harjot Bains decided to engage students of universities and colleges to create general awareness

In a meeting to chalk out a strategy to deal with problem of stubble burning four cabinet ministers Amana Arora, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer and Harjot Bains on Monday decided to engage students of universities and colleges as volunteers to reach out to the farmers against stubble burning. Before that a special training program will be conducted at Punjab Agricultural University on September 28 and at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar on September 29.

Training program at Punjab Agricultural University to held on September 28 and at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. (HT file photo)

The vice chancellors of three universities in Punjab Dr. SS Gosal PAU, Ludhiana; Dr. Jaspal Singh of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar and Dr. Arvind of Punjabi university along with farmers’ commission chairman Dr. Sukhpal Singh attended the meeting. In another meeting attended by cabinet ministers Aman Arora, Meet Hayer and Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal it was decided that Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana would conduct a feasibility study on fermented organic manure (FOM) for its utilization in agriculture and horticulture. The ministers asked a 21-member task force, constituted to discuss and create an enabling mechanism for off-take of FOM, to work on every possibility of using it to come up with a permanent solution to stubble management.