New Delhi: The Punjab government has reached out to the Centre, urging Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to mediate in the ongoing farmers’ protest at the Punjab-Haryana border. Punjab agriculture minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian wrote a letter to the Union minister on December 20. The Punjab minister has urged the Centre to pay attention to the hunger strike by farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who has been on a fast-unto-death since November 26.
The Supreme Court has repeatedly called for the authorities to shift Dallewal to a hospital, with Punjab authorities expressing their inability in the wake of strong resistance from the farmers. Dallewal plans to address supporters on the 40th day of his strike at the Khanauri mahapanchayat in Punjab, according to a report by The Times of India.
Chouhan, while talking to media personnel, has said that his ministry would act in accordance with the Supreme Court’s directives. He didn’t respond on the letter, which the ministry received this week.
Movement faces split
The farmers led by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) have been staging protests at the Punjab-Haryana border since February 2024, demanding a legal guarantee for MSP on crops. However, two major ‘kisan mahapanchayats’ scheduled on Saturday at Punjab’s Khanauri and Haryana’s Tohana, just 27km apart points to a split in the movement by the farmers.
The Khanauri event, spearheaded by Dallewal, focuses on the legalisation of MSP under the Swaminathan Committee’s C2+50% profit formula. Meanwhile, the Tohana mahapanchayat, organised by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), warns against the Centre’s draft national policy framework for agricultural marketing.
Farmer concerns over New Agricultural Policy
The SKM has criticised the proposed agricultural reforms, describing them as more harmful than the repealed 2020 farm laws, the Times of India report mentions further. According to the SKM, the draft framework lacks provisions for MSP and minimum wages, threatening to erode federal rights and harm small-scale farmers, agricultural workers, and traders.
