Stubble management funds: Punjab last-ditch efforts fall flat, Centre says no to 100% grant
In a setback to Punjab, the Centre has turned down its request to give 100% grant for in-situ and ex-situ management of paddy straw
Chandigarh : In a setback to Punjab, the Centre has turned down its request to give 100% grant for in-situ and ex-situ management of paddy straw.
At a meeting of agriculture department officials in Delhi on Thursday, Punjab made its last-ditch effort to convince the Centre to release 100% grant for straw management, but it was rejected. “Now, we are pushing our government to release the matching grant, which is 40%,” said an official of the Punjab agriculture department, requesting anonymity. He said the state finance department has been asked to arrange funds.
Paddy residue management holds significance as stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana is a major reason behind the alarming spike in air pollution levels in the national capital in October and November. Farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear off the crop residue as the window between paddy harvesting and sowing of the next crop is short.
During the past five paddy harvest seasons since 2018, the Centre has given Punjab a total of ₹1,370 crore as 100% grant. However, for the current season, an outlay of ₹350 crore has been sanctioned by the Centre and it wants Punjab to contribute ₹140 crore (40%) of the total outlay.
“This year, the Centre asked the Punjab finance department to make a contribution as done in other central schemes,” said Punjab agriculture director Gurvinder Singh.
In an earlier proposal sent to the Union agriculture ministry, Punjab sought ₹350 crore for paddy stubble management. “We plan to give 22,270 machines for in-situ (mixing paddy stubble into the soil) management of paddy stubble and 11,870 machines for ex-situ (evacuating the stubble put of the fields to be used a fuel in boilers, thermal plants and other industry),” said Singh.
A farmer will be given a subsidy of 50% and custom hiring centres in villages will be offered a rebate of 80% per machine, according to an official of the agriculture department. From 2018 to 2022, the Centre has released ₹269 crore, Rs. 273 crore, ₹272 crore, ₹331 crore and ₹225 crore to Punjab for the purpose.
Last year, the Union ministry rapped the Punjab government for failing to control the farm fires despite support from the Centre for purchasing machines for in-situ management and run awareness campaign. This, officials say, is seen as one of the reasons for the Centre to make Punjab contribute two-fifths towards the outlay.
Also, the distribution of subsidised machines ran into trouble after the enforcement directorate (ED) pointed flaws in the system. In five years from 2018-2022, 1.17 lakh machines have been given to the farmers of which 11,425 were found untraced last year. In an audit done by the state finance department team, no irregularity was found.
In the kharif harvest of 2022, the number of paddy stubble fires were 49,000, which were lesser as compared to 71,000 in 2021. “We are making efforts to bring the number of fires to zero this year” said an agriculture department officer.
However, the state pollution control board and the revenue department officials fear that the stubble fires might rise this year as due to rains, paddy sowing was delayed in certain pockets of the state which would delay the harvest to mid-November. This would reduce the window period between paddy harvesting and wheat sowing. This may push farmers to burn paddy stubble to prepare their fields for next crop, say officials.
