CHANDIGARH: The Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab government today hit out at the BJP-led central government for rejecting the state’s demand for Rs 1200 crore to prevent stubble burning and has accused the Centre of discriminating against Punjab. Yesterday the Supreme Court asked the Punjab and Haryana governments to file their responses by November 14 on the rise in farm fires and stubble burning incidents during the last 10 days in October.Member of Parliament of AAP and senior spokesperson Malwinder Singh Kang said, “The central government has been consistently discriminating against Punjab. It has already withheld several funds from Punjab, such as the Rural Development Fund, Mandi Development Fund and the National Health Mission Fund, amounting to nearly Rs 10,000 crore. Issues were deliberately created in the lifting of paddy. Now, they are also refusing to provide the incentives needed to prevent stubble burning. This is highly condemnable”.Kang said that the AAP government is continuously raising awareness and providing support to farmers to prevent stubble burning. “Thanks to the efforts of the state government over the past two and a half years, the number of stubble-burning incidents has seen a significant reduction in Punjab,” he said.Kang further stated that the BJP frequently claims to stand with Punjab’s farmers, but when it comes to actually helping them, the party shirks its responsibility or creates obstacles. The Centre’s attitude towards Punjab is discriminatory and vindictive, and it weakens the country’s federal structure. He added that the central government should realize that the farmers of Punjab and Haryana feed the entire nation with their hard work, and treating them in this manner is shameful.The Punjab government has been writing to the Centre since 2022, and last year, the Delhi Government also announced to contribute. In 2022, the Punjab government informed the Centre about their plan to provide Rs 2500 per acre to farmers. Last year, the then Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also announced that the Delhi government would contribute funds to this scheme, as stubble smoke during October-November severely increases air pollution in Delhi.”Last month, the Punjab government wrote to the Centre again, requesting 60 per cent of the required funds, which amounts to Rs 1200 crore. This year, approximately 32 lakh hectares have been planted with paddy in Punjab. To provide Rs 2500 per acre to all farmers, an estimated Rs 2000 crore would be required. Of this total expenditure, 40 percent Rs 800 crore would be shared equally by the Punjab and Delhi governments, with each contributing Rs 400 crore. However, the Centre has consistently rejected this proposal for the past two years,’’ he said. In their proposal, the Punjab government emphasized that providing economic incentives to farmers is the only viable option to prevent stubble burning, as the machinery required for stubble management is very expensive. Other related costs are also high, and to save on these expenses, farmers are resorting to burning stubble.
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