With the meeting between the farmer unions and the government of India remaining inconclusive late Monday night, the 'Delhi Chalo' march kickstarted on Tuesday. Punjab, Haryana, and New Delhi are all braced up to witness Farmers Protest 2.0. Haryana CID report has suggested that over 20 thousand farmers will reach Delhi via their vehicles including tractors, lorries, etc to protest against the Central Government over their multiple demands including a law guaranteeing them MSP. In 2020-21, farmers protested against the Modi Government to repeal the three farm laws that were passed in the parliament. As a result, the Government of India kneeled to farmers' demands and PM Modi himself announced that the three laws would be repealed. As a result, farmers called off their one-year-long protest and finally, Punjab and adjoining states' economies came back on track. Now, with farmers protest 2.0 in the making, the question arises whether Punjab and its adjoining states are ready for it or not.
Last time, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) issued a report in which it highlighted that the economies of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir bore losses to the tune of Rs 3,500 crore every day. Furthermore, ASSOCHAM stated that even though the economies in these states are primarily based on agriculture, other sectors such as food processing, cotton textiles, automobiles, farm machinery, and IT have become their lifeline. Trading, tourism, hospitality, and transport are the other sectors boosting the economy of the region.
ASSOCHAM President had outlined that the size of the combined economies of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir is Rs 18 lakh crore. Due to the blockaders of roads, toll plazas, and railways, economic activities have come to a halt. Industries such as textiles, auto components, bicycles, and sports goods, which cater significantly to the export markets would not be able to fulfill their orders.
Interestingly, with Farmers Protest 2.0 in the making, farmers have warned that they will do a 'Rail Rokko' on February 16, 2024. However, first farmers will reach New Delhi.
Notably, Punjab has dealt with multiple farmers' protests over the years. CM Bhagwant Mann has already resolved two to three farmers' protests in his tenure. During the 2020-21 Farmers Protest, normal life was adversely affected due to o shortage in medicine supplies and emergency services and d increase in prices of food items and other consumer goods.
The agitators generally blocked railway routes in Ludhiana, Amritsar, Bathinda, Firozpur, Sangrur, Fazilka, Gurdaspur, ur, and Tarn Taran. Due to this, train movement came to a halt and trains were canceled on a large scale. Due to this, the economy of Punjab as well as interconnected Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, and Himachal in this region was adversely affected. In January 2020, an expert committee constituted by the Supreme Court reported that 85.7 percent of the farmer organizations representing 3.3 crore farmers in the country were in support of the agricultural law.
This committee had recommended that repealing these agricultural laws or keeping them suspended for a long time would mean injustice to the majority of farmers who are silently supporting the agricultural laws. Despite so much loss to Punjab and neighboring states due to repeated agitations, the call for agitation was given once again on 13th February. It is important to remember that due to such movements, the economic development structure of Punjab may reach the verge of collapse.