Breaking: Kisan Mazdoor Morcha protests outside Harbhajan Singh ETO’s residence, meeting called on Sept 16
Babushahi Bureau
Amritsar (Punjab), September 15, 2026: The Kisan Mazdoor Morcha staged a protest outside the Amritsar residence of Punjab Cabinet Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO on Tuesday, with farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher announcing a meeting on September 16 to decide the next course of the agitation.
Pandher said the Morcha had announced a five-day protest beginning September 14 as the first phase of its agitation, alleging that the Punjab government was ignoring the farmers’ demands and refusing to listen to their concerns.
He said the September 16 meeting would discuss a strategy to intensify the agitation in view of what he described as the state government’s rigid approach towards the farmers’ demands.
Raising the issue of crop procurement, Pandher reminded the Bhagwant Mann government of its earlier assurances that farmers bringing their produce to mandis in tractor-trolleys and opening their bags would be assured procurement.
He alleged that the government was now backtracking on those assurances.
Pandher also raised concerns over the declining groundwater level in Punjab and called for a shift towards crops requiring less water. He said the government should guarantee procurement of crops such as basmati, potato, moong and maize to help farmers move away from the existing crop cycle and conserve Punjab’s groundwater.
He also highlighted the respective roles of the Centre and the Punjab government in crop procurement, saying the Centre primarily procures wheat and paddy, while the state government has a role in sugarcane procurement.
Pandher said a guaranteed procurement mechanism for alternative, less water-intensive crops was necessary if the state government was genuinely committed to protecting Punjab’s farmers and water resources.