Members of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha staged a protest against the proposed India-US trade agreement outside the Moti Bagh Palace residence of former Punjab Chief Minister and BJP leader Captain Amarinder Singh in Patiala on Wednesday.
The protesting farmers and labourers raised slogans against the Centre and burnt an effigy of PM Narendra Modi to express their opposition to the trade pact. The protesters alleged that the agreement would adversely affect farmers and dairy producers, and thereby, adversely impact Punjab’s agricultural economy.
Farmers said the Centre was moving ahead with the trade agreement without consulting farm organisations and other stakeholders. They claimed that increased imports of agricultural products from the US could lead to a decline in prices of locally produced crops and create difficulties for Indian farmers. They warned that states heavily dependent on agriculture, including Punjab and Haryana, could face serious economic consequences if cheaper foreign wheat and other farm produce entered the domestic market.
