A week after the Punjab Government set up a panel to look into the menace of stubble burning, its head Justice (retired) Mehtab Singh Gill on Tuesday invited suggestions proposals from the farmers’ unions.

The panel, comprising Agriculture Secretary, Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) chairperson, representative of Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) Vice-Chancellor, ADGP Intelligence or his nominee and representatives of farmers’ bodies as its members, on Tuesday held a meeting with Kisan Unions in a bid to end the paddy straw burning woes completely, and to resolve the issues arising out of paddy straw burning.

During the meeting, it was decided to seek proposals from kisan unions to end the menace of residue burning and manage the paddy straw in eco-friendly manner.

After giving sympathetic consideration to the issues raised by the Kisan Unions, the Committee decided to involve the unions to resolve the issues and to solve the menace permanently.

To achieve the goal of zero stubble burning, Agriculture Secretary Kahan Singh Pannu said that Punjab Government has provided more than 51,000 agro-machines to the state's farmers with a subsidy component of Rs 489 crore during the previous two paddy seasons. “Without the cooperation of the farmers and farmer unions, we cannot make Punjab a zero stubble burning state,” he said.

Notably, Punjab Government on February 11 constituted a committee under the chairmanship of Justice Gill for the management of paddy straw in the State. The committee had been constituted to look into various issues raised by farmers arising out of paddy straw and its management across the state, with the directions of submitting its report along with recommendations in two months.