Days after receiving a rap from the Supreme Court on the rampant instances of stubble burning in the state, the Punjab Government on Wednesday decided to pay Rs 2,500 per acre as compensation to those small and marginal farmers who have not burnt paddy straw.
Informing this, the state Agriculture secretary Kahan Singh Pannu said that the farmers cultivating non-basmati paddy and owning land up to five acre, would get Rs 2500 per acre compensation for not burning the paddy residue.
He further pointed that firstly, the beneficiary of this compensation should be the farmer who owns up to five acres of land in his name, his wife and children under 18 years of age. Secondly, the aforesaid farmer cultivates non-basmati paddy in above mentioned area and also should not have burnt paddy residue in any part of the field, he added.
Explaining the procedure for seeking compensation, Pannu said that those farmers who fulfilled these conditions, would have to submit the self-declaration performa with the concerned panchayat by November 30, 2019.
The said performa is available with the village panchayats, and the compensation amount would be directly credited to the bank account of the eligible farmer, he said.
Meanwhile, Pannu also appealed to the farmers not to burn paddy residue as it was the blatant violation of the orders of the Supreme Court and warned of strict action to be initiated against those farmers violating the ban on stubble burning.
