Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Wednesday asked the Congress Government not to ride rough shod over farmers to enforce ban on stubble burning. The party urged the Government to broad base the distribution of straw balers, along with providing other economically viable alternatives to farmers to stop this practice effectively.
Expressing serious concern over the Congress Government’s new dictatorial attitude which was using civil and police machinery to impose penalties on farmers, SAD spokesperson Maheshinder Singh Grewal said that this was already leading to flash points and could become a law and order problem.
“Famers rightfully are looking at the new Government to give them viable alternatives so that they don’t resort to stubble burning. Instead of doing this and broad basing the distribution of straw balers and happy seeders started two years back by the SAD-BJP Government, the new Government is using force to stop this practice,” he said.
Grewal added that farmer cooperative societies were encouraged to buy balers as well as happy seeders, which sow wheat among paddy stubbles, at 50 per cent subsidy and the same were leased out at nominal rates.
Even the Union Government and the National Policy for Management of Crop Residue had urged the States to encourage use of equipment for crop residue management. “There is no indication from the Government that it will broad-base this effort,” he added.
Asking the Government to convince farmers defying the current wheat stubble ban through a consenesus approach, the Akali spokesman said the Government should also reflect why farmers were protesting against it so soon after Government formation.