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Haryana agriculture minister O P Dhankar said the state government was aware of the crop residue burning issue and his department has submitted a Rs 1,601.57 crore plan to the Centre for procuring required machinery for the management of stubble.

He was replying to a calling attention motion on the first day of the winter session of Haryana Assembly here.

"The department has submitted a five-year plan of Rs 1,601.57 crore to the central government. The central government has released Rs 45 crore for providing straw management machines on subsidy to the farmers of the state for crop residue management in the year 2017-18," Dhankar said.

The minister said in pursuance to an order of the NGT, the government had issued a notification dated September 16, 2003 prohibiting burning of left-over straw in the state.

Coordinated efforts have been made by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Environment Department and New and Renewable Energy Department (HAREDA) to solve the problem face by farmers, Dhankar said.

He said the department has identified 11 categories of straw management implements for which it has received 5,162 applications online.

The minister said disbursal of subsidy to the farmers is under process and 944 straw management implements have already been distributed to them as on October 16.

He said currently, the department possesses 65 zero-till seed-cum-fertiliser drill, 26 happy seeders and two straw balers which are being made available to the farmers on hire basis at nominal rates.

Dhankar also informed the House that his department was also providing incentives under Sub-Mission on Agriculture Mechanization (SMAM) on demonstration at Rs 4,000 per hectare to farmers who have purchased the machinery on subsidy and want to run it for straw management demonstration purpose.

A total of 18,000 hectares of land would be covered for demonstration of crop residue management, covering 15 major paddy growing districts for practical knowledge of the farmers regarding the use of straw management implements. Rs 7.2 crore would be spent for this, he said.

The minister said to tackle the issue of straw burning and to promote paddy straw-based biomass power projects in the state, HAREDA has floated a Request for Proposal (RFP) for setting up such plants on pilot basis in Karnal, Kurukshetra, Ambala, Kaithal, Jind and Fatehabad districts.

This would consume about 5.5 lakh tonnes of paddy straw as fuel. The capacity of paddy straw consumption is targeted to be increased by about 11 lakh ton in the second phase, Dhankar said.

He said HAREDA is also in the process of formulating a Biomass Policy 2017 for the state with an objective to harness biomass-based power, biogas, bio-CNG, bio-manure and bio- fuels.

District Magistrates have set up enforcement teams to check crop residue burning and recover penalty from farmers who resort to the act in violation of NGT orders in this regard, the minister said.

Earlier, the Haryana Assembly paid tributes to prominent personalities who died between the period from the end of the previous session and the beginning of this session of the House.

Members of the House also observed a two-minute silence to pay homage to the departed souls. They also paid tributes to those who lost their lives during the violence in Panchkula and Sirsa on August 25.

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The railway ministry has decided to give more powers to its two nodal bodies to redevelop stations and its land, a senior official said.

The two bodies -- Railway Land Development Authority (RLDA), and Indian Railways Station Development Corporation (IRSDC) -- are set to get powers to deal with all big decisions on the commercial use of railway land and developing stations, the official said.

The ministry has also formed a high-powered committee which will give recommendations on ways to further strengthen the bodies which will, in turn, speed up the execution of projects.

"The issue of exploiting railway land for commercial use is being looked into afresh and the organisation handling this subject - RLDA - is being further strengthened and empowered to take care of this work effectively, especially big land parcels," Railway Board chairman, Ashwani Lohani, told PTI.

"Similarly, in the case of Station Redevelopment Program (SRP), we have decided to expedite their operations by strengthening the IRSDC further," Lohani said.

The decisions have been taken based on directions issued by Railway Minister Piyush Goyal.

The minister has made it clear, in his meetings with the members of the board, that no department can work in silos and strengthening existing bodies and empowering them should be the goal to deliver work faster, an official said.

The committee's plan, the official said, will be the blueprint for other such bodies.

"So, now, all the land-related projects will be handled by one department –- RLDA -- and all station-related decisions will be taken by the IRSDC. Basically, there will be clarity in the processes involved," said the official, adding that this will expedite processes as files will move faster within the departments.

Similarly, the 'One ICT' (information, communication, and technology) plan is working as a core group within the IT Directorate and not as a separate body.

"Now, it will be part of the bigger IT directorate which works on all IT infrastructure-related activities of the national transporter," the official said.

The 'One ICT' was created to set up an integrated software that would bring various functions of the railways — passenger reservation, movement of goods trains, asset management and other functional requirements of the national transporter — under one roof.

"The minister's focus is on strengthening and empowerment of field offices and field functionaries through delegation of powers, simplification of processes, total clarity on the implementation strategy.. These steps to bring related aspects of operations under one nodal body is a step in that direction," Lohani said.

Goyal has told the officials that streamlining file movement and communication between different departments would ensure that safety projects are completed in time.

In fact, after the Elphinstone bridge stampede in Mumbai, Goyal had also given unlimited powers to the General Managers for 18 months for safety-related issues and questioned why the file for the tender of an additional FOB was delayed.

"The minister has motivated railway employees to adapt new work culture and work in a mission mode to meet the targets and achieve results," the official said.