On the eve of the third anniversary of anti-farm laws stir, Punjab and Haryana farmers, under the banner of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), on Sunday began their three-day long nationwide protest over pending demands including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP).

The SKM, an umbrella body of various farmer unions, maintains the Union Government has not fulfilled the promises made two years ago when they called off their historic protest against now repealed farm laws.

Punjab, Chandigarh, and Haryana police have sealed interstate barriers to prevent farmers from entering Chandigarh as the SKM has announced the decision to march to the Punjab Raj Bhavan in Chandigarh to give a memorandum of their demands to the Governor.

Besides a guaranteed MSP, farmers have been demanding the withdrawal of cases filed against them during the 2020-21 stir against the now-repealed farm laws, compensation and jobs for any one of the family members of farmers who died during the stir, debt waiver, and pension.

Te Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan) Sukhdev Singh Kokri Kalan said that under the flag of the organization thousands of farmers workers including hundreds of women and youth will reach the front.

He said demands of this front include legal guarantee of beneficial MSP for all crops and the pending demands of Delhi Kisan Morcha including Lakhimpur Kheri, complete loan waiver of farmers, crop insurance scheme with full compensation for crop destruction, Rs 10,000 per month old age pension for farmers above 60 years of age (including women).

Bharti Kisan Union (Lakhowal) general secretary Harinder Singh Lakhowal said farmers from many parts of Punjab have already reached the protest site on the Mohali-Chandigarh border. He said the number of farmers at the protest site will increase as many farmers are on the way to SAS Nagar (Mohali) to join the protest. Farmers from Haryana are also expected to reach Chandigarh to join the protest.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party Punjab today said the ongoing agitation by the Punjab farmers in Chandigarh is the result of an arrogant attitude adopted by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann towards resolution of their demands.

The chief spokesperson, Punjab BJP, Jaibans Singh said that important issues like providing timely compensation to flood afflicted farmer families and giving promised remuneration for the sugarcane crop and lentils, etc., are not being addressed, thus giving an impression that the state government is not serious about the problems being faced by the farmers.

When asked about the demands of the farmers pending resolution at the Central level, Singh said the Union government has always shown great sensitivity towards issues faced by the farmers and is ready to find a mutually acceptable resolution for all issues.

The BJP leader said the state government has failed in meeting the aspirations of the farmers while the Centre is ready to do everything possible to improve the farming sector due to its conviction that the farming sector will drive the nation’s aspiration of becoming a five trillion economy in the next few years.