Vice-President, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar today called for finding a systemic solution to stubble burning and said that it should not be left to individuals. Speaking at the National Energy Conservation Day Function 2024 at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, Shri Dhankhar said that, “The National Capital suffers every year on account of hazardous environmental situations arising out of burning stubble. We must get into innovation mode, find a systemic solution, it should not be left to individuals. The system must come of age……Just imagine our lack of attention. Our negligence is putting us in jeopardy in several ways. One, our health. Second, loss of hours of work. Third, disruption of normal life and; Fourth, we need to take care of our children. We are giving them a heavy dose. You can't go to school on this day because pollution is very high and therefore everyone must converge to contribute.”

“Climate change, the crisis. The threatening problem obliterates social barriers. rich or poor, urban or rural. We either act together or we perish together”, he added.

Referring to our civilizational ethos and traditional wisdom, Shri Dhankhar said that, “ Our civilisational wisdom is a heritage, and I would say, in a sense, survival manual, encyclopaedic, for this climate emergency. We have civilisational ethos of thousands of years, our Vedas, Puranas, our epics Mahabharata, Ramayana, and Gita's wisdom, if we look into that gold mine, we get real inspiration that conservation had always been a key factor, a facet of life.

Drawing attention to the fundamental duty in the Constitution calling for conservation of environment, Shri Dhankhar said, “ Constitution has given us fundamental rights, but also fundamental duties and when there is a challenge in the family, in society, in a group, or before the nation, we relegate our rights and give precedence to duties. I invite your attention in particular to Article 51A. It is just not constitutional guidance. It has to be a way of life with us.”

Underlining the importance of responsible consumption, VP stated, “ Our fiscal strength, our fiduciary power, cannot be a determining factor for utilisation of natural resources, for utilisation of energy. If people think I can afford it, I want them to revisit their thoughts. This is not yours.It is a collective to the entire humanity and therefore, an obligation on us that there has to be optimal utilisation of resources, optimal utilisation of energy”.

Shri Shripad Yesso Naik, Hon’ble Minister of State for Power, Shri Pankaj Agarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Power and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.

****

JK/RC/SM