Fast & furious: Farmer protests resurge

Chandigarh: In 2024, a renewed wave of farmer protests swept across Punjab, reminiscent of the 2020-21 agitation. Farmers, demanding a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP), initiated another "Delhi Chalo" march, and Jagjit Singh Dallewal emerged as the face of the protest with his fast-unto-death at the Khanauri border.This time, however, Haryana effectively blocked the protesting farmers' path, preventing them from crossing the state border. The protests reached a flashpoint on February 22 when 22-year-old Shubhkaran Singh was killed during clashes with Haryana Police at the Shambhu border as tear gas was used to disperse protesters attempting to breach barricades at Shambhu and Khanauri.Prior to the planned march to Delhi by Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political), marathon meetings were held in Chandigarh with Union cabinet ministers Piyush Goyal and Arjun Munda. However, these talks failed to yield a breakthrough, as no consensus could be reached. Dallewal, along with Sarvan Singh Pandher, general secretary of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, participated in these crucial discussions.Apart from a legal guarantee for MSP, the farmers are demanding implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations, pension for farmers and farm labourers, farm debt waiver, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, and compensation to the families of farmers who died during a previous agitation in 2020-21. As his fast entered the 34th day, the Supreme Court granted the Punjab govt until December 31 to persuade fasting farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal to get hospitalised. Hours before beginning his fast-unto-death on November 26, Dallewal was allegedly forcibly removed from the Khanauri border and taken to a hospital in Ludhiana.Amid a blame game between the AAP govt and Centre over inadequate storage space for fresh paddy stocks, panic gripped rice millers ahead of the paddy procurement season. The arhtiyas (commission agents) and farmers' groups joined the fray, staging protests to voice their concerns. In response, the state govt tried to diffuse the crisis by accepting some of their demands. Alongside, the Centre was also approached to press for swift movement of food grains of previous seasons still stored in the state.Farmers in the state were at the receiving end as paddy arrivals picked up in the state. The grain markets, especially in the Malwa region, faced a glut-like situation due to tardy lifting as rice millers continued to be reluctant to accept fresh produce of PR-126 and hybrid varieties. Eventually, however, the majority of rice millers came on board, and one of the state's most difficult paddy procurement seasons was wrapped up.Despite a demand by farmers' groups to expedite its implementation, the draft of The Punjab Agriculture Policy 2023 is yet to be notified by the state govt. The policy was mooted to highlight the state's long-standing agrarian problems. Among other proposals, the draft policy has recommended prohibition of water-guzzling paddy cultivation in the 15 blocks overexploited for groundwater. The draft has also flagged the "agriculture-water-power nexus", referring to the 13.91 lakh tubewells in the state and the power subsidy bill for agriculture pumps (AP) consumers pegged at Rs 7,294 crore. As per the policy, in highly over-exploited blocks, the area under paddy cultivation needs to be brought down in a phased manner and the option for completely banning paddy in one or two blocks needs to be explored.Ahead of wheat sowing, farmers also faced a shortage of di-ammonia phosphate (DAP), a key fertiliser for growing crops during the winter sowing season. There was a 30% shortage of DAP at the beginning of wheat sowing, the ideal time for which was from Nov 1 to 15.Despite the state govt allocating Rs 575 crore for various crop diversification schemes in the budget for 2024-25, most farmers continue to stick to the wheat-paddy cycle. As per estimates, in the last 50 years, the area under maize cultivation in the state has come down by almost 82%. Similarly, the area under cotton cultivation in the state decreased from 2.14 lakh hectares in 2023 to 1 lakh hectares in 2024 due to back-to-back pest attacks on the crop that prompted farmers to go back to wheat-paddy.MSID:: 116800094 413 |
Explore the yearly horoscope 2025 for Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces zodiac signs. Spread love this holiday season with these New Year wishes, messages and quotes.