CHANDIGARH: At a time when the AAP-led Punjab government is grappling with an agitation by employee unions, another major protest has started. Punjab farmers, under the banner of the umbrella organisation of all Kisan unions, Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), on Tuesday started a seven-day pakka morcha farmers’ protest from September 1 to 7, camping on the road connecting Mohali with Chandigarh.
The farmers are demanding a legal guarantee on Minimum Support Price (MSP), scrapping of the free trade agreement with the US and European countries, which the farmers are vehemently opposing, and a complete waiver of loans of both farmers and agricultural labourers.
While water is one of the biggest Punjab-specific issues in the charter of demands, the farmers want previous agreements concerning the sharing of Punjab’s river waters scrapped and have demanded that the Punjab Assembly convene a special session on the issue.
They also seek restoration of Punjab’s representation in the Bhakra Beas Management Board. The issue has gained renewed political salience after changes concerning Punjab’s permanent representation in the BBMB.
The protest is significant because several of the demands are directed at the Centre, while others concern the Punjab government and the state’s long-standing dispute over water and its rights within the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB).
The location of the protest is strategically important as this road connects Mohali with Chandigarh and the airport corridor. A portion of the protest stretch falls in Mohali, while the remaining portion is in Chandigarh (Sector 48-C area in Chandigarh on the road to IISER T-point in Mohali, Punjab), meaning a large mobilisation there has an immediate impact on movement between the two cities.
Thus, extensive traffic and security arrangements have been made by both the Chandigarh Administration and the Punjab Government.
Talking to this newspaper, Prem Singh Bhangu, President of All India Kisan Federation (AIKF), said that the major demands are resolving the longstanding river water dispute based on the riparian principle and the Constitution, scrapping Sections 78, 79 and 80 of the Reorganisation Act, 1966, and a complete debt waiver for farmers and agricultural workers.
“We are against the proposed free trade agreement with the USA. [We demand] Minimum Support Price (MSP) based on C2 plus 50 per cent on all agricultural produce apart from wheat and paddy, scrapping the Dam Safety Act, Electricity Amendment Act and Seed Bill, along with Rs 10,000 per month as social security for farmers and workers, etc.,” he said.
Bhangu said that the Chandigarh Administration allotted the site in Chandigarh on Airport Road, starting from inside Chandigarh up to Bestech Mall in Mohali, Punjab, on one side of the road.
The administration had made all the arrangements, including drinking water, cleanliness, portable toilets and traffic control.
“We made the preparations and hundreds of tractors and trolleys reached Chandigarh last night along with ration and other necessary material,” he said.
The demand for a legal guarantee of MSP is particularly important for Punjab, where the farm economy remains heavily dependent on the wheat-paddy procurement cycle. The farmers want the MSP framework extended beyond the crops that dominate government procurement.
The concern of the farmers over the free trade agreement with the US and European countries is that cheaper agricultural imports could put downward pressure on domestic crop prices and make Indian farmers less competitive. Farmer unions argue that trade agreements could expose agriculture and allied rural businesses to greater import competition.
The SKM is demanding withdrawal of the Electricity Bill 2025 and Seed Bill 2025, arguing that proposed changes could have implications for farmers’ costs, access to agricultural inputs and the broader structure of farm policy, and repeal of the Dam Safety Act, besides withdrawal of the Disaster Management Act, 2024.
Besides, farmers seek the price of sugarcane to be fixed at Rs 500 per quintal and a mechanism to be put in place under which private sugar mills make payments through a single counter, similar to the arrangement followed by cooperative sugar mills. They also demand a monthly pension of Rs 10,000 for themselves, agricultural labourers and rural artisans.
The SKM comprises 32 farmer organisations, including BKU Rajewal, BKU Dakaunda, Kirti Kisan Union, BKU Shadipur and Punjab Kisan Union.
BKU Ekta Ugrahan, though an associate member, is holding separate protests at Deputy Commissioners’ offices and is not part of the Chandigarh-Mohali dharna.
