Chandigarh, Oct 19 (IANS): Veteran Congress leader and former Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda on Saturday said the Haryana government should fix the minimum support price (MSP) for stubble and buy it from farmers.

Describing the action taken by the government against farmers for burning stubble is condemnable; he told the media here that the government should take back the anti-farmer decision.

"Farmers take such steps under compulsion. Instead of imposing fines on farmers, filing FIRs against them and red entries in their land records, the government should work on a solution to this. Many things can be made by buying stubble, such as fuel, bio-thermocol, ethanol, bio-bitumen, pallets, etc, and it can also be used for electricity production," the Congress leader said.

The apex court on Wednesday summoned the Chief Secretaries of Punjab and Haryana after expressing disapproval over the lack of proper legal action against stubble burning in the state.

Hooda said stubble burning has a very small share in pollution.

"The real cause of pollution is factories, vehicles, and dust. Therefore, the government should dispose of the stubble or buy the stubble from the farmers. At present, the machines the government is talking about providing for the disposal of stubble are not proving to be effective. The number of machines is also very low, especially small farmers are unable to use them."

"Machines have to be called in the field several times for a single task. First, different machines have to be called to cut the paddy residue, then to collect it and then to make bales, and after that, it also takes a long time to lift it. By then, the time for sowing the next crop is over. The government needs to pay attention to these practical aspects so that the real problem of the farmer can be understood,” he said.

Earlier, a delegation of farmers met him and gave him a memorandum of their demands. Hooda reminded the BJP government of its election promise.

Hooda also said the government should buy paddy from farmers at the rate of Rs 3,100 per quintal, as it had promised.