Declaring a war against stubble burning to save water, soil, and environment from pollution, the Punjab Government on Friday decided that no leave would be granted to any officer or employee of the state Agriculture Department till November 7.
At the same time, the Department has been directed to establish a state-level control room to keep a vigil on all the activities in the field regarding stubble burning awareness campaign and immediate reporting of cases of stubble burning.
Instructions have also been given to the state Additional Chief Secretary (Agriculture) Saravjit Singh to be in regular touch with the district civil and police administration regarding the issue of stubble burning.
“On Monday, I will be holding a meeting with some Cabinet colleagues and Vice-Chancellors of all the universities of the State to take services of NSS volunteers to aware people regarding the ill effects of stubble burning,” said the state Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal on Friday, during a meeting with the District Agriculture Officers to discuss a blueprint to control stubble burning and implementation at the district level.
The Minister said that controlling stubble burning is a major challenge for the State, as the pollution caused by it is being highlighted at the national and international level which gives a bad name to Punjab.
“To put an end to the practice of stubble burning and paddy straw management, the Punjab Government has decided to take various concrete steps such as providing agriculture implements on subsidy to farmers, running awareness campaigns, and some new scientific methods such as decomposer spray are being adopted to stop stubble burning practice in the state,” said the Minister.
Giving a call to all the officers and employees to work practically at ground zero instead of just doing paperwork, the Minister directed the senior officers not to give leave to any officer or employee of the Agriculture Department till November 7.
The Minister also added that the Punjab Government will provide happy seeder machines to the block-level Agriculture Officers which the small farmers can use for free. “Already, about two-five machines have been provided at block level and they are trying to give about 10 happy seeder machines to the Agriculture Officers for the use of farmers,” he said.