India’s top court orders financial assistance for stubble-burning farmers
This order passed after a two-hour long hearing on the issue of severe air pollution in the capital
The India's Supreme Court on Wednesday passed an interim order to tackle severe air pollution which has engulfed the national capital region.
A special bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Deepak Gupta directed the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab to grant financial assistance to small and marginal farmers to ensure that they do not burn stubble to clean their fields.
This order passed after a two-hour long hearing on the issue of severe air pollution in the capital, reports livelaw.in.
The central government has been directed to prepare a scheme to protect the interests of the farmers within three months. This will be made applicable across the country.
In the meantime, States should pay Rs100 per quintal from their funds within seven days to the farmers. The court will decide later on fixation of liability.
There was no advanced planning to tackle stubble burning, observed the court. The government authorities are to be held liable for their inaction, the court said. There should have been timely execution and adoption of the machines.
The bench repeatedly stated during the hearing that the issue of air pollution cannot be allowed to become an annual recurring thing.
On Monday, the same bench had passed a slew of directions to tackle the issue of air pollution in Delhi. The SC took up the issue in the wake of Environment Pollution Control Authority declaring a public health emergency in Delhi-NCR in view of the severely deteriorated air quality.