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New Delhi, December 19
A permanent solution to stubble burning, which has been causing choking pollution in northern states, can be brought about at the cost of just 6 or 7 Rafale fighter jets, Congress leader Pratap Singh Bajwa said on Tuesday.
Seeking immediate sanction of funds by the Centre to solve the problem, he said the NITI Aayog has projected that a permanent solution would cost around Rs 11,000 crore.
Raising the issue of choking pollution from stuble burning in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh through a Zero Hour mention in the Rajya Sabha, Bajwa said this was just the cost of 6-7 Rafale jets.
India is buying 36 Rafale fighters for about Rs 59,000 crore contract (7.87 billion euro) from France.
He said pollution in the national capital has become a “national shame” and the government should urgently take steps to tackle it.
Farmers, he said, needed support and should be given Rs 200 per quintal extra to get rid of crop residue in eco- friendly way. Farmers should be given financial support to stop stubble burning, he added.
Vivek Gupta (TMC) wanted to know what steps the government has taken for the disposal of crop residue.
Bajwa raised the issue during the Zero Hour of the Rajya Sabha.
INLD member Ram Kumar Kashyap demanded the Shaheed title for Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru and Chandrashekhar Azad.
Quoting a Dainik Tribune report, Kashyap said he was distressed to learn that even Pakistan had conferred the title of Shaheed-E-Azam on Bhagat Singh whereas India had not.
Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, who said he was also concerned about reading such reports, sought an explanation from the Culture Ministry.
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, responding on the behalf of the government, said Bhagat Singh was held in highest esteem by the country and he would ascertain the details and get back to the House.
Kashyap raised the issue during the Zero Hour of the Rajya Sabha.
Akali Dal leader Naresh Gujaral raised concern over the “renaming” of evening Dayal Singh College in Delhi as “Vande Mataram college”.
Terming it as an attempt to create communal hatred in the country, Gujaral called it an assault in sentiments of Sikhs a minority community.
Responding to the concern, HRD minister Prakash Singh Jawadekar said that the government was against the move and that was why he had put the decision to rename Dayal Singh College on the hold.
A meeting had been called on the issue, he said, making it clear that the government had no role in the attempt to rename the college.
Meanwhile, Gujaral, who said that he was not against the national pride evoking “Vande Mataram” demanded that the government set up a university by the name.
