By Jag Mohan Thaken
CHANDIGARH: Why are the Farmers agitating and sloganeering against the Haryana government and its administration? Why are they worried about procurement of their crop produce despite the government’s assurances? Why are the opposition parties of the state slamming the government and supporting the farmers? Why has the Haryana Government’s new Rabi crop procurement policy become the bone of contention?
However, the government terming this policy as an easing step for the farmers, but farmers and the opposition stating it a teasing step. What are the guidelines under this new policy, which are causing the heat?
Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board (HSAMB), vide its letter dated March 28, 2026, has instructed the field staff to ensure compliance of certain conditions regarding the Rabi Marketing Season 2026. It has directed that all the Secretaries Market Committees (SMCs) should ensure that the vehicles, entering the Mandi carrying the agricultural produce for selling, must have vehicle registration number, so that photograph of the vehicle number can be ensured at the time of gate pass through ekharid mobile App.
Another condition, which is also pinching the farmers, is the mandatory biometric authentication of the farmer or his authorised representative before auction of the foodgrain.
Haryana Chief Minister, Nayab Singh Saini says – “To strengthen the procurement system the government has adopted — Three-tier verification, biometric authentication and geo-fencing.”
While addressing a press conference held at the Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh on April 9, CM Saini said that the opposition is unnecessarily spreading misinformation regarding the procurement system in an attempt to mislead farmers, which is unfortunate. He stated that the state government is fully committed to the welfare of farmers and will ensure the procurement of every single grain of their produce. The government has implemented comprehensive reforms in the procurement system and appointed nodal officers in every mandi.
The Chief Minister informed that the government has made a three-tier crop verification system mandatory. Under this system, crops brought to procurement centres will be matched with the crops registered by the farmer, making the verification process more accurate and reliable.
He said that Aadhaar-based biometric verification has been made mandatory to ensure the identity of farmers in the procurement process. All mandis and warehouses have been brought under geo-fencing to prevent unauthorised usage and strengthen location-based monitoring.
The Chief Minister further stated that to enhance traceability and accountability of goods in mandis, it has been made mandatory to record the vehicle number and capture photographs of the vehicle/load while issuing entry gate passes. However, considering farmers’ convenience, in cases of very old or new vehicles where a vehicle number may not be available, gate passes can be issued based on vehicle photographs alone.
The Chief Minister further informed that before stock is moved out of mandis, mandatory approval from both the transporter and the Market Committee Secretary has been ensured for exit gate passes. This multi-agency verification system is enabling secure and authenticated movement of stock. He said that as of April 8, 2026, a total of 1,74,635 exit gate passes have been issued without any issues, reflecting the success of the new system and claimed these technology-based initiatives of the state government have enhanced transparency, accountability and efficiency in the procurement process, directly benefiting farmers.
Commenting over the conditions laid by the government, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former Chief Minister of Haryana and Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, stated on April 3 that while procurement has indeed commenced in the mandis (grain markets), farmers are receiving nothing but distress. Conditions—such as mandatory Number Plates on tractors, biometric verification, gate passes, and the requirement of three representatives—are being imposed in such a manner that farmers, out of sheer frustration, are compelled to sell their produce outside the mandis. He asserted that this appears to be yet another scam in the making. After all, not every individual owns a tractor.
The government is imposing conditions that are forcing farmers to sell their crops at distress prices. The Haryana government, he alleged, is effectively preparing to treat farmers like prisoners. Hooda affirmed, “We stand firmly with the farmers and will resolutely oppose the government. He himself—along with other party office-bearers and MLAs—will begin touring the mandis located within their respective constituencies to assess the ground realities firsthand.”
In a statement, issued on April 5, the General Secretary of All India Congress Committee, former Union Minister and Sirsa MP Kumari Selja targeted the BJP government over the new procurement policy and said that newly imposed conditions related to crop sales had forced commission agents (Arhtiyas) into a difficult position, ultimately leading to the shutdown of the mandi. She alleged that farmers, traders, and labourers associated with the market system were now bearing the brunt of these policies.
Kumari Selja said unnecessary restrictions are being imposed on farmers, while traders are being put under pressure. The Congress leader further pointed out that despite repeated natural calamities, farmers were neither receiving adequate compensation nor being provided ease in transporting their produce to mandis. Instead, she added, multiple conditions were being imposed, aggravating their hardships.
Kumari Selja urged the government to immediately revise its policies and introduce practical solutions to provide relief to farmers, traders, and workers. Selja warned that failure to take timely corrective measures could severely impact the state’s agricultural and trading systems.
A delegation of Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), led by its National President Abhay Singh Chautala submitted a memorandum on March 28 to the Governor of Haryana regarding the establishment of procurement centres for wheat purchase and the difficulties farmers are facing in selling their produce.
Speaking to the media, Abhay Singh Chautala stated that the government has imposed several conditions on wheat procurement, such as the mandatory registration of tractor-trolley numbers, obtaining a gate pass upon entering the ‘Mandi’ (grain market), undergoing biometric verification, and the requirement of having three designated nominees. He questioned the rationale behind imposing all these conditions, noting that such stipulations had never existed for wheat procurement in the past.
He also raised the question of how farmers arriving with their produce on traditional modes of transport—such as buffalo carts, bullock carts, or camel carts—would be able to obtain a gate pass?
Farmers have also come forward to oppose the new procurement policy. A state level Lalkaar rally was held at Jind, on March31, by Samyukta Kisan Morcha, under the banner of its Haryana unit, wherein the farmer leaders expressed their anger against the ruinous policies, as termed by the speakers, of the state and central governments. Sharing the gist of the rally program with the author of these lines, Inderjit Singh, National Vice President of All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) reported that the farmers frowned against the BJP government of Haryana for imposing coercive restrictions on farmers for selling their crops. The SKM leaders accused the Naib Singh Saini government of facilitating a mega Paddy bogus procurement scam. Instead of bringing the influential persons to the book it was forcing farmers to unacceptable and draconian conditions for selling their produce. It was announced by the voice vote that farmers will not abide by the recent conditions and seek these to be withdrawn forthwith.
Sharing a video of a seriously ill old age farmer, who is not even in a position to walk on his own strength and is being brought by two supporting youth for mandatory biometric authentication, the former chief minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda commented on his tweeter 0n 6th April, 2026, “The treatment being meted out to farmers is extremely unfortunate. The farmers of the state—particularly the sick and the elderly—are facing distress due to the government’s harsh and impractical conditions. Complex regulations— such as biometric authentication, the requirement for three guarantors, and tractor verification—have made it difficult for farmers even to access the mandis. It appears that conditions are being deliberately engineered to drive farmers away from the mandis, compelling them to sell their produce to middlemen at distress prices.”
Isn’t this video, if true, a slap on the face of the administration, blot on their inhuman behaviour and the policy that the government had come with?
Shouldn’t the Chief Minister, Nayab Singh Saini immediately take stern steps against the officials, whose action or negligence or laxity forced this seriously ill farmer to come to the mandi for biometric authentication to sell his foodgrain?
Now some related questions, which still create confusion among farmers, require the attention of the government that it has made Number Plates mandatory on the vehicles carrying foodgrains to the Mandi, but what about those small farmers, who bring their produce on animal driven carts, as not every individual owns a tractor? Also, for the old age farmers, biometric authentication or nominating the representative on the portal, is becoming a hurdle. The government should have a rethought over its decision and come forward with a simple way out. The Policy framers should always keep in mind— ‘Rules must be facilitating, not obstructing’. (IPA Service)
