On a call given by five kisan organisations, farmers in large numbers from Punjab on Monday gathered at Jantar Mantar (New Delhi) to protest against the Centre and to press for their long-standing demands, including equal distribution of water, implementation of the minimum support price (MSP) scheme, waiving farmers' debt, removing false police cases against farmers and keeping tabs on groundwater pollution, among others. The five farmers' organisations that took part in the protest were Bhartiya Kisan Union Rajewal; All India Kisan Federation; Kisan Sangharsh Committee, Punjab; Bhartiya Kisan Union Mansa; and Azad Kisan Sangharsh Committee. Farmers earlier took out the procession from Gurudwara Shri Bangla Sahib (Delhi) while carrying flags and placards bearing angry slogans in their hands. “Slogans were raised against the central and state governments which have failed to address our long-standing issues. We went to Delhi to vent out our anger and convey our resentment against the Centre, which has deceived us by not fulfilling the written promises made to the farmers at the time when the three controversial central farm laws were repealed,” said Balbir Singh Rajewal, president of BKU Rajewal. Prem Singh Bhangu, Kanwalpreet Singh Pannu, Bogh Singh Mansa and Harjinder Singh Tanda – president of their respective unions – also addressed the farmers. They made a scathing attack on the government for doing great injustice to Punjab and farmers by taking wrong decisions with respect to water disputes. These decisions, according to them, had led to “too much water being given to non-riparian states like Rajasthan and Delhi, leaving 73% of the state's cultivated land unirrigated”. They said that Punjab is facing acute water crisis as the groundwater is depleting day by day. Water, irrigation and canals come under the state list. As it is a state subject, the Centre has no right to legislate or pass any executive order on water issues. They alleged that the Centre has unnecessarily complicated the water issue by intervening in it and taking political mileage out of it. They said that every inch of Punjab's cultivated land should be given canal water as the state is a land of five rivers. The leaders demanded that MSP for farmers should be made a legal right and the price be fixed as per Dr M S Swaminathan’s formula C2+50% along with assured market for all agriculture crops, including vegetables and fruits. They expressed strong concern about the environment pollution caused by untreated chemical effluents of factories being released into water bodies or the ground. And because of polluted groundwater, people in the state are suffering from chronic diseases and it is also not fit for crops, they said. They alleged that the enactment of the Dam Safety Act was against the federal principles and it ate into the powers of the state governments. The law was passed to establish the Centre's supremacy on state waters, they further alleged. The kisan organisations also sought waiving the debt of farmers and agriculture workers, besides demanding withdrawal of false police cases registered against farmers in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh as promised by the government. They also slammed the central government for CBI raids on farmers in order to suppress their agitation. Later a delegation of farmers also submitted a memorandum addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to officials concerned. In their memorandum, the farmers urged Modi to ensure proper distribution of water for their agricultural activities and ensure implementation of the MSP scheme, as promised by the Centre, at the earliest.
