Ludhiana, November 12 Following the directions of the Supreme Court and in a bid to encourage farmers not to burn paddy straw and agricultural residue, Punjab government will compensate small and marginal farmers with Rs 100 per quintal, said Deputy Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Agrawal. Agrawal said the government would provide compensation to farmers with landholdings of less than 5 acres. He stated that this compensation would be provided based on their average yield of last year. The DC said the farmers could use the form published in newspapers to apply for the compensation. The form was to be filled by farmers and submitted to either their sarpanch or Panchayat secretary. Later, the forms would be checked by committees set up at the SDM level. Amrit Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development), said the farmers could also collect these farms from Panchayat secretaries. “Only those farmers will be benefitted who are involved in in-situ management of agricultural residue and paddy straw in their fields itself. Farmers, who are managing paddy straw and agricultural residue outside their fields, will not be benefitted under this scheme as the farmer does not have to spend anything when paddy straw and agricultural residue is managed outside the fields.” He issued clear instructions to concerned officials to ensure that the directions of the Supreme Court were publicised everywhere so that maximum number of farmers could be benefitted. And those farmers, who burned paddy straw, should be encouraged not to burn it and avail full benefit of this scheme, he said.

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