BJP Targeting Punjab Farmers For Stubble Burning Due To Farm Law Protests: Delhi Minister Gopal Rai

Gopal Rai said farmers were forced to burn stubble in Punjab because the Centre did not support the state government's plan to provide a cash incentive to them.

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Wednesday alleged that the BJP was targetting Punjab farmers for stubble burning because of their previous protests against the contentious farm reform laws, which the Centre was forced to withdraw last year. Amid a war of words between AAP and BJP over the deteriorating air quality in Delhi, Rai said farmers were forced to burn stubble in Punjab because the Centre did not support the state government's plan to provide a cash incentive to them, PTI reported.

Addressing a press conference, Rai said, "Everybody is asking the same question -- why has stubble burning not reduced despite AAP being in power in Delhi and Punjab? Stubble burning has not reduced because the Centre has denied support."

"The Centre betrayed the farmers. I think they hate farmers because of the protests (against the farm laws)," Rai said.

In July, the AAP-led governments of Delhi and Punjab sent a joint proposal to the Centre asking for assistance in providing financial incentives to farmers in the agrarian state for preventing burning of stubble.

As per the proposal, Delhi and Punjab would be contributing Rs 500 each and the Centre would contribute Rs 1,500 for each acre. Farmers have said that a cash incentive can help them in covering the cost of fuel used to operate the machinery for the in-situ management of paddy straw. 

However, according to Punjab government officials, Centre rejected this proposal, saying that it provided subsidised machinery to farmers, such as happy seeders, rotavators and mulchers, for the in-situ management of paddy straw. The Centre also reportedly said due to fund crunch it could not dole out cash incentives.

"The BJP is blaming farmers for burning stubble....They want FIRs to be filed against them. They should stop abusing farmers, stop seeking revenge from them," Rai further said.

Paddy straw burning in Punjab and Haryana is one of the major reasons behind the alarming spike in the air pollution levels in the national capital in October-November. Farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear off the crop residue before cultivating wheat and vegetables.

Training his guns on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rai said it opposed the ban on firecrackers, stopped the implementation of the "Red Light on Gaadi off" campaign and was now violating the ban on polluting activities in the capital.

The Delhi government issued a notice on Tuesday to stop work at the BJP headquarters in the capital and imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on private firm Larsen & Toubro Limited for violating the ban imposed on construction and demolition work in view of the city's worsening air quality.

"I am amazed that the BJP has stooped so low for politics. Don't they know that the GRAP has been implemented in Delhi? Don't they read newspapers?" he asked.

The Delhi minister said the problem of air pollution cannot be resolved through politics.

"The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has come up with the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), which will needs to be implemented in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana too -- in Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida, Gurugram and Bahadurgarh," Rai said.

"We have been following the GRAP and have accordingly banned construction work, barring some essential projects, in Delhi. We need the support of the governments in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. They need to become active," he further said.

(With inputs from PTI)