Plan to give Rs 2500/acre cash incentive to Punjab farmers for not burning stubble, says Kejriwal
New Delhi July 27
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said the Punjab government has sent a proposal to the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to give cash incentive to farmers in the border state for not burning stubble.
The proposal says Rs 2,500 per acre should be given to farmers in Punjab to wean them away from stubble burning, the chief minister said after inaugurating charging stations for electric vehicles here.
“The Punjab government has sent a proposal to the CAQM to give cash incentives to farmers in the state for not burning stubble. The proposal says that Delhi and Punjab should give Rs 500 each and the Centre should provide Rs 1,500. The Delhi government will do whatever is needed to curb air pollution,” he said.
PTI had on Monday reported that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) governments in Punjab and Delhi plan to provide cash incentive to farmers in the border state for not burning stubble and have requested the Centre to share the cost.
Paddy straw burning in Punjab and Haryana is a major reason behind the alarming spike in air pollution levels in the national capital in October and November.
Farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear off the crop residue before cultivating wheat and potato.
Punjab generates around 20 million tons of paddy straw annually.
“Delhi will share the cost since smoke from farm fires impact air quality in the national capital,” a Punjab government official had said.
He had said the Punjab and Delhi governments will implement the scheme even if the Centre doesn’t agree.
Under a Centre-sponsored scheme, farm machinery is provided to farmers at a subsidised rate for in-situ management of the stubble. Farmers say a cash incentive can help them cover the cost of fuel used in operating the machinery.
This is not the first time Punjab will give cash incentives to farmers for not burning stubble.
The governments of Punjab and Haryana had announced a bonus of Rs 2,500 an acre for small and marginal farmers in 2019 too, following the Supreme Court’s suggestion to incentivise farmers to stop farm fires. However, a paucity of funds stalled the scheme and only a few thousand farmers could avail the benefit.
The Punjab government had even requested the Centre for financial assistance but to no avail.
The erstwhile Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority had told the apex court that incentive should not be given to stop people from doing something bad.
Farmers can be incentivised in different ways by giving free machinery or buying stubble from them. An incentive for not burning stubble is a perverse incentive, it had said.
According to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Punjab had reported 71,304 farm fires between September 15 and November 30 last year and 83,002 farm fires in the corresponding period in 2020.
Last year, the share of farm fires in Delhi’s PM 2.5 pollution had peaked to 48 per cent on November 7.
According to an analysis by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), people in the national capital breathe the worst air between November 1 and November 15 every year, as unhelpful meteorological conditions trap pollutants from local sources and stubble burning in neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana.
