PTI Kisan Wing Leads Nationwide Farmer Protests Over Budget Neglect

Farmers Decry Budget Neglect of Water Crisis, Livestock, and Oilseed Sector

By DTD- On Jun 17, 2025

RAWALPINDI – Farmers across Rawalpindi Division and other districts of Punjab held strong protest demonstrations on Monday under the leadership of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Kisan Wing, denouncing the federal and Punjab budgets for ignoring the agricultural sector. As part of the demonstrations, wheat crops were symbolically set ablaze, thrown into rivers, and mock funerals of the wheat harvest were held to express farmers’ outrage.

Speaking to media representatives, PTI Kisan Wing Spokesperson Khalid Nawaz Sudhraich said the protest is only the beginning. “Farmers in several districts have registered initial protests, and we plan to expand this movement nationwide,” he stated, adding that PTI’s Kisan Wing is now being organized in other provinces to build a unified platform for future demonstrations.

Sudhraich criticized the federal and provincial budgets for failing to allocate meaningful support to agriculture, stating that “nothing substantial has been offered for farmers—just hollow promises.” He emphasized that the budgets lack direction, reforms, and subsidies that would bring real relief to small and medium farmers.

“The input costs—including fertilizers, seeds, diesel, and electricity—are skyrocketing, making it impossible for small farmers to plan the next sowing cycle,” he said. “Despite claims by the government, the reality is that farmers are not even recovering their production costs.”

The spokesperson also lamented the absence of any investment in resolving water scarcity, including the construction of small dams, implementation of drip irrigation, and improvement of canal irrigation systems. He pointed out that critical sectors such as livestock, horticulture, and oilseed cultivation were completely overlooked, despite Pakistan importing over 88% of its edible oil.

“This is more than just negligence—it’s economic and rural injustice,” Sudhraich said. He stressed that farmers from across the country are now united and that PTI Kisan Wing, in alliance with other farmer organizations, will soon announce a full-scale nationwide protest movement.

During Monday’s demonstrations, farmers chanted slogans, held symbolic funerals for their crops, and carried out dramatic acts of protest including throwing wheat into rivers and setting it on fire—actions aimed at drawing urgent national attention to their plight.