MP farmers involved in stubble burning to lose Kisan Samman Nidhi aid

Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh cabinet has given its approval to suspend for a year the financial assistance provided under the Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme of those farmers involved in stubble burning, a minister has said.

The cabinet also decided that the produce of such farmers will not be purchased as per the minimum support price (MSP) for one year.

“The state government is taking strict measures to control stubble burning that causes pollution,” state Urban Development and Housing Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya said after the cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

The government will suspend the financial assistance provided under the Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme to those farmers involved in stubble burning, and their produce will not be purchased as per the MSP for a year, he said.

The MP government provides Rs 12,000 per year as Kisan Samman Nidhi to farmers – Rs 6,000 under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana and an equal amount from the state government.

“The state government doesn’t want to penalise farmers. But our farmer brothers should not cause big losses for small gains, because their own children will also suffer if the environment is impacted,” he said.

The decision was necessary for environmental protection, he said.

The MP cabinet also approved a new transfer policy for state government employees and officials, Vijayvargiya said.

Several other decisions were also taken in the meeting, including increasing by five per cent the dearness allowance of state government staffers and bringing it at par with central government employees, as announced by Chief Minister Mohan Yadav earlier, he added.