Ahead Of Smog Season, Bhagwant Mann Defends Punjab Farmers, Takes Dig At Pakistan

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has taken a stance defending farmers ahead of the post-harvest season, during which northern states, particularly the Delhi-NCR cluster, see deadly pollution that's partly blamed on paddy stubble burning. He said he's not in favour of registering cases against farmers who choose to burn the crop residue. He trained his guns at the BJP-ruled Centre, and took a cross-border dig too, targeting his counterpart from Pakistan's Punjab province, Maryam Nawaz.

"The Centre says Punjab has contributed 180 lakh metric tonnes of paddy to the central pool. But they do not consider how much stubble comes from the 180 lakh MT. They suggest registering FIRs," the AAP leader said, speaking at a Kisan Mela at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in Ludhiana on Friday.

Paddy growers have been demanding a Rs 3,000 cash incentive per acre for managing paddy stubble, a demand that Mann backed in principle.

"Defaming Punjab"

He mentioned Maryam Nawaz, Chief Minister of Pakistan's Punjab, saying she intended to write to him regarding smoke affecting Lahore. "Is it only our smoke in the air? Do the emissions from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh not contribute? They are merely trying to defame Punjab," he said.

"I do not feel like registering FIRs against farmers," he asserted, speaking in Punjabi, and added, "Par lod hi na pavey, uss hisaab naal kar leyo. (You do it in such a way that we won't need to take action)."

Every year, FIRs are filed against farmers who engage in stubble burning under Section 223 (disobedience of an order promulgated by a public servant) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Those found guilty face fines as environmental compensation, and a 'red entry' is noted in revenue records, which can prevent farmers from obtaining loans or selling their farmland.

Punjab did see an 86 per cent reduction in stubble fire incidents from 2023 to 2025.

However, it has ended up becoming a political issue as Punjab, and Haryana to an extent, is often blamed for the winter smog in Delhi-NCR starting in October.

Due to the short window for sowing the Rabi crop (wheat) after the paddy harvest in October and November, many farmers burn the straw to quickly clear the crop residue.

Mann said he has conveyed to the Centre that farmers do not wish to burn the straw, as the smoke affects them directly. He reiterated that he has told the BJP government that farmers should be given financial incentives for managing it.

Eye On Elections

Farm union leaders linked Mann's statement to the assembly elections due in six months.

Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan urged the government to first cancel any FIRs already registered against farmers for stubble burning.

BKU (Lakhowal) leader Harinder Singh Lakhowal echoed the sentiment that the government should provide cash incentives to farmers for managing stubble burning.

The state government runs awareness campaigns at the village and block levels to educate farmers about the dangers of burning paddy straw. Besides, residue management machinery is made available on subsidy. Farmers say that is not enough and a cash incentive can help them better.