On the issue of air pollution, Mann said the Central government is ignoring the problem by not incentivising farmers. “We had already submitted that the Centre should either allocate Rs 2,000 per acre to farmers to manage paddy straw or offer support price and procurement for alternative crops like maize, bajra, and moong so that farmers make as much profit as they make from paddy,” he pointed out.
Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) and organiser of ‘Punjab Vision 2047’, Dr Vikramjit Singh Sahney stressed on the need to engage youth in modern agriculture and opening of Wagah border for ease of trade with Pakistan and central Asian countries. “As MP I keep raising issue of non disbursal of funds to Punjab and we should push this further especially in view of the upcoming Parliamentary session. All the MPs can come together to deliberate on a strategy to raise issues concerning Punjab’s interests during the zero hour,” he added.
Mann also talked about the intiatives taken by the state government to improve government schools and formation of self help groups of women for their financial independence. “Punjab will see an industrial resurgence soon as big players like Tata Steel are setting up plants in the state. We also need to focus on food processing units to increase profit from farming,” he added.