AAP’s Saurabh Bhardwaj Slams Centre Over ‘Formal’ Pollution Meeting, Seeks Incentives to Curb Stubble Burning

By A Staff Reporter

New Delhi: Delhi AAP President Saurabh Bhardwaj on Thursday criticised the central government for what he termed a merely “formal” meeting on the capital’s worsening air pollution. He said the Centre had failed to take meaningful steps despite citizens facing severe health and environmental distress across the city.

“It is unfortunate for the country that just a formal meeting is done by the central government while entire Delhi is distressed,” Bhardwaj said, adding that people were compelled to take to the streets while the discussions in Delhi amounted to little more than procedural gestures. “Even this time the government did a meeting just for formality,” he added.

Bhardwaj questioned why the Centre does not provide targeted subsidies to prevent stubble burning, which remains a major seasonal contributor to pollution in Delhi-NCR. He argued that farmers need financial support and technological alternatives, not punitive measures alone.

Calling for a performance-linked framework, Bhardwaj suggested that the Union government set clear milestones for pollution reduction and reward states that achieve the greatest progress. “The state that reduces pollution the most should be given a share of the central taxes,” he proposed, saying such incentives would motivate states to adopt stricter, science-based measures.

Warning that the issue would persist without firm intervention, Bhardwaj said stubble burning would continue in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan unless robust, enforceable action plans were introduced at the national level.