Farmer Unions Call for Separate State and Federal Budgets for Agriculture Sector

On Wednesday, at Kisan Bhawan, a meeting of five farmer unions including Bharti Kisan Union Rajewal, All India Kisan Federation, Punjab Kisan Sangharsh Committee, Bharti Kisan Union, Mansa, and Azad Kisan Sangharash Committee took place.

The farmer unions called for separate state and federal budgets for agriculture in order to increase public investment in the industry, which they claimed was being drastically reduced, and to put Dr. MS Swaminathan's suggestions into practice.

The organizations planned to march toward the parliament and deliver a letter to prime minister Narendra Modi regarding the issue.

The unions' main requests are to prevent an acute water crisis in Punjab because of the Central Government's alleged poor choices in connection with the water dispute, which are depleting underground water supplies and causing large amounts of river water to flow out of the state.

Environmental degradation due to untreated chemical factory waste entering the soil is another issue that concerns the farmer unions.

Farmer leaders claimed that after the three agricultural laws were repealed, the Central Government broke its promises to farmers. Along with justice for the farmers of Lakhimpur Kheri, they requested the legal status of the MSP, including for fruits and vegetables, the complete cancellation of farmers' debts, and the withdrawal of all false cases against them that had been filed in Delhi and other locations.

Union leaders criticised the central government for cutting the state's Rural Development Fund and other market fees, claiming that this was an obvious assault on the state's authority.

The leaders believed that in order to defeat the crude strategies used by the central and state governments to split farmers and put an end to the agitation by utilising the central agencies.