The Punjab government would refer to data with the remote sensing department to identify small and marginal farmers who have not burnt paddy stubble this Kharif season. The government’s move comes days after the Supreme Court ordered it to give financial assistance to such farmers within a week.
The interim order of the apex court says, “We direct in the facts and circumstances of the case, to take care of the stubble, which has not been burnt by small and marginal farmers in the states of Punjab, Haryana and Western UP ...and to provide farmers financial support, quantified at ₹100 per quintal of non-basmati paddy within seven days from today (Wednesday)...by the state governments...to those who have not burnt the stubble.”
“It is a complex matter but we will devise a methodology,” said additional chief secretary (development) Viswajeet Khanna, who is the head of the state agriculture department.