Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann rejects draft agri marketing policy
Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann opposes Centre's draft policy on agricultural marketing, claiming it aims to reintroduce repealed farm laws and undermine state authority.
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday said the Centre was trying to “bring back” the now-repealed farm laws, referring to the newly announced draft of the National Policy Framework on Agricultural Marketing.

Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh on Thursday, the CM rejected the draft National Policy Framework on Agricultural Marketing sent to the state government for comments last month, saying that his government will oppose any move of the Centre to pass “anti-farmer” laws through the backdoor.
The draft was put up on the ministry’s website on November 25, 2024, and comments were invited from stakeholders within 15 days. The limited window for responses evoked heartburn.
“The Centre had rolled back the now repealed farm laws. Now, they are trying to bring these back in some other way,” Mann said.
“Punjab and Haryana’s mandi system is very strong and they are again talking of ending this system. We don’t support this. Agriculture is a state subject. They have sought suggestions from us on the draft, but Punjab cannot accept it … We are sending it in writing that we are not going to accept it,” the CM he said.
Farmers in Punjab and Haryana, who have historically relied on robust local market systems, have expressed concerns on the draft policy, saying the proposed reforms may dilute state authority over agricultural marketing, undermining the federal structure. The policy’s silence on legal guarantee for the minimum support price (MSP), a key demand of the farmers, finds no mention in the draft policy.
The draft policy talks about 12 reforms, which include allowing private wholesale markets to be set up and permitting the direct wholesale purchase by processors, exporters, organised retailers and bulk buyers.
The major concern among Punjab farmers over the draft policy is contract farming, a subject which was a part of the three repealed farm laws, equipping APMC markets with specific infrastructure and services in public private partnership mode and the push for reforms in the state’s agricultural marketing laws and policies.
On December 23, farmer organisations held protests across the country against the proposed policy. On the call of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) that spearheaded the year-long farmer protests in 2020-21, farmers from over 500 districts sent memorandums through the district collectors to President Droupadi Murmu seeking her intervention to facilitate a discussion between the government and the farmers.
The immediate context was the deteriorating condition of farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal who has been on an indefinite fast since November 26 and the contentious agricultural marketing policy.
Farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal had claimed that the draft policy would erode Punjab’s stake over its own resources and agrarian economy in the same way in which the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has “broken the backbone of federal states’ financial autonomy”.
