Phagwara, November 9, 2025 — Mounting frustration over unpaid sugarcane dues and stagnant prices has prompted the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Doaba) to announce a series of protests this month, aligning with the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and Quomi Insaaf Morcha (QIM).
At a meeting held at Gurdwara Sukhchaina Sahib in Phagwara, BKU (Doaba) president Manjit Singh Rai said the union would participate in KMM’s November 10 protest at Panjab University, Chandigarh, against the Centre’s dissolution of the university’s Senate — a move described as “an assault on Punjab’s academic autonomy.”
The BKU (Doaba) will also extend support to the November 14 Quomi Insaaf Morcha rally seeking the release of Bandhi Sikhs. Farmers and union activists will gather at Shambhu Border before joining the march, Rai said.
The meeting strongly criticised the AAP government for “neglecting farmers’ rights,” claiming sugar mills owe nearly ₹120 crore in arrears, including ₹93 crore from government-aided mills and ₹27 crore from Phagwara’s Golden Sandhar Sugar Mill dating back to 2021–22.
Union members demanded the state raise the sugarcane procurement rate to ₹500 per quintal and warned of a statewide protest if payments are not released immediately. “If the government continues to ignore our demands, we will be forced to launch a coordinated agitation across Punjab,” Rai cautioned.
The union will convene again on November 16 to decide the future course of action.
