Farmers warn of 2020-style stir against power, seeds Bills

More than 5,000 farmers associated with the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Wednesday threatened a repeat of the 2020-2021 agitation in case the Centre did not withdraw its proposed Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2025. It is likely to be tabled in the forthcoming parliamentary session.

Farmers have called a meeting of the SKM constituents on November 28 to decide the future course of action. The gathering also demanded a rollback on the proposed Seeds Bill and four labour laws. Calling these as a move towards greater centralisation, they also sought the government to withdraw its National Education Policy, 2020.

BKU (Rajewal) president Balbir Singh Rajewal asked the farmers to be ready with their bags, food and clothes for another indefinite protest. “Be prepared for a new battle and it’s more serious this time,” he said.

BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) president Joginder Singh Ugrahan said the Electricity (Amendment) Bill was a sure way of giving control of power distribution to the corporate sector. Smart chip meters as part of the privatisation drive were strong indicators of the way ahead. Similarly, the Seeds Bill would allow seeds, even controversial hybrid varieties, of multinational companies to take control of the agriculture sector.

BKU (Ekta-Dakaunda) state president Buta Singh Burjgill said, “Watch out brothers! Farmers are being pushed to a point of no return.”

Krantikari Kisan Union president Darshan Pal Singh said, “The government has not even given us the MSP on crops, as promised when the last agitation ended. This worked out to roughly 50 per cent profit margin over the total production costs. The state government also made false promises to compensate for crop and cattle loss due to recent floods.”

Gurbir Singh Rampur of the BKU (dakaunda) said the cases against farmers linked to Lakhimpur Kheri violence in Uttar Pradesh should be cancelled. Farmers facing red entries in their land records for stubble burning should also be spared.

Farmers unanimously accepted a draft resolution on their demands. They said the agriculture sector should be kept out of the purview of the free trade agreements being signed with various countries. The Centre should scrap the anti-labour Bills. The state government should stop its intended move to sell the land of Punjab Agricultural University and the Punjab State Electricity Board.

They also demanded that the Centre should immediately declare the date for the Panjab University senate elections and Chandigarh be made the “rightful” capital of Punjab.