Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday openly came out to support the Punjab farmers who have been burning the crop residue in their fields as a mark of protest against the state government’s ban on the same.
AAP MlA and the leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha Sukhpal Khaira led the farmers at Samrala to burn paddy stubble as a symbolic protest “for the failure of Congress government to implement the directions of National Green Tribunal (NGT) and registering cases against farmers”.
Khaira said that the government should not harass the farmers until it makes alternative arrangements for consumption of paddy stubble into the soil as per the NGT directions.
He claimed that the NGT, while issuing directions to stop burning the paddy stubble for cleaner environment, had ordered the state governments to provide equipment to the farmers for its consumption in the soil.
Khaira said that instead of providing equipment and machinery to the farmers on rental basis, the Punjab government is penalising the farmers by registering cases against them.
“If the farmers are to plough the paddy stubble in their fields, it would cost them approximately `4000-5000 per acre, as it requires two to three operations with appropriate equipment and a heavy tractor to consume it in the sub-soil…Every farmer would have to invest a minimum of Rs 10 lakhs to arrange equipment machinery and tractor for this purpose,” he said.
Khaira said he was of the firm opinion that unless the government either offers rupees `5,000 per acre to the farmers or provides the necessary equipment for consuming the paddy stubbles in the fields, it would be highly impossible for the farmers to stop burning the paddy stubble.
“Farmers are left with no choice but to burn their paddy stubble and prepare for the ensuing wheat season. Under these circumstances, AAP supports the farmers and BKU organisations for their defiance of NGT orders and warns the government not to penalise and register cases against them,” he said.