cancer XII

KVM seeks Green Budget
Rajay Deep/TNS

Bathinda, March 7
Citing that the land of Punjab and its life support system — soil, water, air, environment and consequently the health of its people — are going through an unprecedented crisis, activists of the Kheti Virasat Mission (KVM), an NGO, today shot off a letter to the state Finance Minister (FM) Upinderjit Kaur urging her to present a Green Budget for the financial year 2011-12..
Reminding the FM that it would be her first budget, which she will present in Punjab assembly in the next few days, the NGO mentioned that incidentally, it would also be the last budget of the present SAD-BJP government.
"Hence, it is the last chance to show the commitment of your government towards the ecological and environmental health," the letter states. Providing a copy of the letter, executive director of the KVM, Umendra Dutt said, "We have reminded the FM that Punjab is reeling under severe ecological, environmental and economic crisis. There is development chaos in Punjab this has its genesis in shortsighted governance."
Mentioning demands to be incorporated in the budget, the KVM wrote for the constitution of a 'Punjab State Environment Commission' as a statutory body separate from the Punjab Pollution Control Board. It should work as the highest agency for all issues related to environment and natural resources.
Further, the letter mentions a demand for the Punjab Environment Fund to mobilise resources for environmental tasks and to spread awareness about community initiatives with government establised fund.
Focusing attention towards environmental health concerns, the KVM asked the FM to enlarge social security net for support to cancer patients. Further, it asks the government to undertake a widespread and multi-centric epidemiological and environmental mapping through an extensive study and participatory research to assess the magnitude and specificity of ill-health due to contamination of food, water and air with pesticides and other chemical inputs of agriculture.
The KVM has also asked for incentives to ecological farmers for not burning crop residue, income as well social security to agricultural families, a Farmers Income Index, institutional and infrastructure support for storage, marketing, procurement and processing of crops, adequate and timely disaster relief and mitigation.