MOHALI: The week-long farmers’ protest on Chandigarh-Mohali borders was called off on Monday evening after the state government gave written assurances on a series of key demands raised by farmer organisations, including river-water agreements, the Punjab Reorganisation Act, the Dam Safety Act, seed legislation, farmers’ loans and sugarcane payments.The decision followed a meeting between representatives of 24 farmer organisations affiliated with the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) and Punjab agriculture minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian and health minister Dr Balbir Singh.Following the meeting, the farmers dismantled their protest camp and began their journey back home.Farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal announced the withdrawal of the morcha after agriculture minister Khuddian handed over a written letter of assurance covering the demands.Rajewal, accompanied by Raminder Singh Patiala and Dalbir Singh Sidhupur, said copies of the letter would be provided to all participating organisations.A key assurance was that the Punjab Vidhan Sabha session would be convened within a month.The government has agreed to place several issues before the House through resolutions, which would subsequently be forwarded to the Centre.On the contentious river-water issue, the government has agreed to seek cancellation and reconsideration of water agreements it considers unconstitutional, including agreements more than 25 years old.A resolution seeking repeal of Sections 78, 79 and 80 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act will also be moved, along with a demand that river-water distribution be determined according to the riparian principle.The government has further agreed to move resolutions seeking repeal of the Dam Safety Act and opposing withdrawal of the Seed Bill, 2025, with the resolutions to be sent to the Centre after their passage in the Assembly.On farmers’ loans, a Vidhan Sabha committee will be constituted after consultations with other political parties.It will examine loans taken from cooperative banks, including Punjab State Cooperative Banks, Punjab State Agricultural Cooperative Banks and cooperative societies, and submit recommendations for further action.On sugarcane, the government maintained that Punjab was already offering the highest sugarcane price in the country and assured that the existing level would continue.The necessary files for fixing the sugarcane price have been sought for immediate submission.It also assured that pending payments by private sugar mills would be cleared in a time-bound manner.The government agreed to implement a “One Window, One Payment” system in private sugar mills on the pattern followed by cooperative sugar mills.A separate committee will examine other demands raised by the farmer organisations.Farmer leaders will nominate their representatives, while senior government officials will also be part of the panel.The government assured that the pending demands would be addressed at the earliest.The written assurances paved the way for the farmers to end the agitation and return to their respective districts.
