Farmers in Punjab Protest in Front of Ministers' & MLAs' Residence; Seek Debt Relief

Farmer outfits across the State led by Kisan Mazdoor Sangarsh Smiti, an outfit that was at the forefront of farmers' year-long agitation against farm laws, picketed outside the residences of Ministers and MLAs of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, among other demands.

Farmers staged sit-in protests outside the homes of Ministers and MLAs in 31 different locations across 16 districts of the state, according to Sarvan Singh Pandher, general secretary of the Punjab unit of Kisan Mazdoor Sangarsh Committee.

"Our key demands include a one-time farm loan waiver, immediate steps to save rapidly depleting groundwater and river pollution, policy ensuring remunerative prices for all crops, and so on," Mr. Pandher said.

"The government should work on a policy to make farming profitable, and the first important step that the government should take is to announce and purchase crops at the Minimum Support Price (MSP)." Farmers' suicides are on the rise across the state, and the government should waive all outstanding loans, whether private or government loans, owed to farmers and labourers," he said.

According to a recent study conducted by the Ludhiana-based Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) on farmers' suicide in Punjab, as many as 9,291 farmers committed suicide in six districts of the state between 2000 and 2018, with farm-related debts accounting for approximately 88% of the suicide cases.

Pandher claimed that the State government was not paying attention to real-world issues in the state. "The Punjab government should pass legislation ensuring MSP." "Immediate compensation and treatment should also be arranged for the owners whose animals died as a result of lumpy skin disease," he added.