Govt should take back the decision to take action against farmers for burning stubble: Bhupinder Hooda

Chandigarh: Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has said the government should fix MSP for stubble and buy it from farmers. Describing the action taken by the government against farmers for burning stubble is completely condemnable, he said the govt should take back this anti-farmer decision. “Farmers take such steps under compulsion. Instead of imposing fines on farmers, filing FIRs against them and red-listing them, the government should work on a solution to this. Many things can be made by buying stubble, such as fuel, bio-thermocol, ethanol, bio-bitumen, pallets, pulp, fertilizer, bricks, and it can also be used for electricity production,” he said. Answering media questions at his residence, Hooda said stubble burning has a very small share in pollution.

“The real cause of pollution is factories, vehicles and dust. Therefore, the govt should dispose of the stubble or buy the stubble from the farmers. At present, the machines that the government is talking about providing for the disposal of stubble are not proving to be effective. The number of machines is also very less. Especially small farmers are unable to use them,” he added. “Machines have to be called in the field several times for a single task. First, different machines have to be called to cut the paddy residue, then to collect it and then to make bales, and after that, it also takes a long time to lift it. By then, the time for sowing the next crop is over. The government needs to pay attention to these practical aspects so that the real problem of the farmer can be understood,” he noted. Earlier, a delegation of farmers met him and gave a memorandum. Hooda reminded the BJP govt of its election promise. Hooda said the govt should buy paddy from farmers at the rate of Rs 3,100 per quintal, as it had promised. “Today the situation is such that farmers are not getting even MSP, let alone Rs 3,100, and they are forced to sell their crop at a lower rate. Not only this, due to lack of lifting, the markets are filled with paddy and farmers are not even able to find a place to store their crop. Due to delay in lifting, payment is also getting delayed,” he stated.