Delhi Pollution : Supreme Court Suggests Excluding Farmers Burning Stubble From Minimum Support Price

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (November 21) suggested excluding farmers burning their stubble from the purview of the minimum support price (MSP) infrastructure, as a part of a carrot-and-stick policy to disincentivise stubble burning in Punjab and other states adjacent to Delhi. It also recommended completely subsidising baling machines for poor farmers and financing their operating costs to convert stubble into a useful byproduct that could then be sold for a profit by the state government. A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia was hearing a batch of pleas raising concerns over the deteriorating air quality in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR). The region typically faces heightened pollution during the winter months, largely due to factors such as stubble burning in neighbouring states.In October, the court directed the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to submit a report detailing the steps taken to tackle the worsening air quality in and around the national capital. Later in the same month, the commission submitted its report implicating stubble burning as a leading cause of air pollution in Delhi, following which the governments of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Delhi were directed to outline the measures adopted to combat air pollution, particularly concerning crop burning.Earlier this month, the court came down heavily on the governments of Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, and UP, asking them to immediately stop stubble burning. The court entrusted the responsibility of enforcing this ban to the local state house officer, under the supervision of the chief secretary to the governments and the police chief of the respective states. Not only this, but it also urged a re-evaluation of the Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act, 2009 in view of its adverse effect on pollution, and stressed the need to phase out cultivation of paddy of a concerning variety in Punjab.On the last occasion, the court expressed renewed concerns over the raging farm fires in the states adjacent to Delhi, particularly Punjab, urging the governments to come up with emergency measures to douse the fires now and longer-term measures for crop replacement in a phased manner and to encourage crops that do not leave behind stubble that will require burning, including alternative varieties of paddy. An ideal policy would involve a monetary incentive as well as a punitive element, the bench indicated, but left it to the wisdom of the executive. "We want farm fires stopped, we want air quality to get better, and we want long-term measures for crop replacement. You do it however you want. We are not saying follow this solution or that," the court categorically told the state and union governments, before leaving it to them to find a solution. "If you don't, we'll summon the chief secretaries and keep them here till they find a solution. I'm sure they'll work better in their own offices, so please find a solution," Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul warned.At the outset of today's hearing, Punjab Advocate-General Gurminder Singh urged the court to direct an 'action-oriented' timeline to be fixed so that the mitigation measures may be adopted before the onset of the next season. He also apprised the bench of the steps taken by the Punjab government to tackle the raging farm fires, saying -"We have collected about two crore rupees as environmental damages from farmers who are still violating the orders. We have created 618 red entries which debars farmers from taking benefits in their jamabandis. Almost 1000 FIRs have been lodged. As of yesterday, there is a protest on the roads...They are blocking people from accessing the fields to put out the fires. This is a law and order situation and we are dealing with it. We are going and extinguishing fires, even at midnight. As of yesterday, six districts in the state went completely fire-free.""I'm thinking out loud," Justice Kaul mused, "Why should any purchase be made under the minimum support price system from people violating the orders and lighting fires, regardless of how this affects the people, the children? The stick must also follow the carrot. Why should people who, despite all observations of the court, despite counselling, continue violating the law be allowed to benefit monetarily? People who have been identified as having lit fires should not be allowed to sell their products under this system. There should be something that pinches. It's not about one state or the other, or the union. Let's not get politics into this."Justice Dhulia also chimed in with his suggestion to disallow farmers who have been identified as having burnt their stubble, from growing rice. "It's a suggestion. Because the MSP policy cannot be done away with. It's a sensitive issue. You can only pick persons, but you cannot do it as a policy perhaps."At the same time, Justice Dhulia acknowledged the unique circumstances that compelled farmers to burn the stubble,...

Delhi Pollution : Supreme Court Suggests Excluding Farmers Burning Stubble From Minimum Support Price

Awstika Das

Tags