Panjab Govt. Declares 12 Corporate Silos, Rolls Back Decision on Unions Protest Threat

On 15 Mar, the Panjab govt. declared 11 wheat silos in nine districts of Panjab, as procurement centers for sale-purchase, storage, and processing of wheat like the previous year. On 2 Apr, the govt. added one more silo to the list. The 12th one is LT Foods Silo in Bhagtanwala village of Amritsar with a total capacity of 50,000T. The notification said ‘all silos will be managed by private companies.’ Farmer unions feared the move to create silos implied that 26 Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs) would be disbanded. Secretary of Punjab Mandi Board (PMB) Amrit Gill clarified, ‘Silos are storage points and the number of mandis (grain markets) notified for procurement is 1,907 this year, same as last year.’ Yet, the trust is so low that Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) said it would oppose the move ‘to hand over government grain yards to corporates’. SKM (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha currently protesting on the Panjab-Haryana interstate border also joined the call. Under fire from various farmer bodies, the Panjab govt. withdrew its order. PMB chairman Harchand Singh Barsat clarified that no market committees will be dissolved. Farmer union Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) has asked the Panjab govt. to take over all the state’s private silos and cancel new permits given to the corporate houses. They have given a call for protest on 11 Apr. Senior INC leader Pargat Singh tweeted about the events. Like with farmers and journalists at the beginning of Farmers’ Protest 2.0, the Panjab police has got Pargat’s post blocked (SDW Vol. 2 Issue 11, Story 4).