MP farmer leaders kept under house arrest ahead of 15‑point demand march to CM residence

Police in Madhya Pradesh put dozens of farmer leaders under house arrest in Devaas, Ratlam and over a dozen districts, blocking their planned march to the CM’s residence over a 15‑point charter of farm demands.

Dozens of farmer leaders confined

Several prominent farmer leaders in Madhya Pradesh have been prevented from leaving their homes as police imposed “house arrest” or tight surveillance in at least a dozen districts ahead of a planned protest march to the Chief Minister’s residence in Bhopal.

The action comes after the Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Mahasangh and its youth wing called for a statewide rally, with leaders from around 30 districts reportedly set to converge at the Fanda toll on the outskirts of Bhopal before moving towards the CM’s office.

Key faces and locations

According to local reports, Trilok Singh Gothi, national vice‑president of the Youth Wing of the Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Mahasangh, was placed under house arrest at his residence in Devas early in the morning, with police officers blocking him from stepping out.

Similar restrictions were reported in Ratlam, Bhopal, Sehore, Harda, Balaghat, Neemuch, Mandsaur, Ujjain, Agar Malwa, Shajapur and other districts, where local police prevented key farmer representatives from holding meetings or travelling towards the capital. Where some farmers managed to leave their homes, they were stopped at the Fanda toll and the Ashta stretch before reaching Bhopal.

15‑point farm charter

The farmers’ group has prepared a 15‑point memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister, demanding urgent action on long‑standing grievances in wheat procurement, farm loans, compensation, and land rights.

Among the key demands are:

• Smoother wheat procurement and removal of bottlenecks that have delayed payments.

• Disbursement of pending Bhavantar (price‑difference) compensation to farmers who were forced to sell wheat in mandis because of delays in MSP procurement.

• Withdrawal of cases booked against farmers over stubble burning, with satellite‑based FIRs treated as circumstantial rather than conclusive evidence.

• Relief for co‑operative loan defaulters, including a later cutoff date pegged to the wheat procurement cycle and restoration of loan access for such farmers.

The group also wants 100% compensation for crop losses due to fire or natural disasters, including timely release of crop‑insurance benefits, and an end to alleged excesses against Adivasi communities affected by projects like Ken‑Betwa.

MSP, milk prices and utilities

The charter calls for crop prices to be fixed at least at the C‑2+50% cost formula (often referred to as “C‑250” in local discourse), with a guarantee that produce should not be sold for less than this level in mandis. Activists have also urged the state to honour the earlier promises made during the Khalkhat agitation related to MSP and market mechanisms.

On dairy, the farmers have demanded that milk be valued at ₹12 per kg of fat and that the previously announced bonus of ₹5 per litre be paid without further delays. They have also pressed for curbs on arbitrary billing and harassment by the power (electricity) department, saying farmers are being over‑penalised for technical and meter‑related issues.

Land, inputs and infrastructure

The 15‑point list stresses the need for correction of land records (bundobast), complaining that officials routinely ignore farmers’ applications related to boundary disputes and title corrections.

Farmers have also demanded that high‑tension lines, railway tracks or pipelines should not pass through agricultural fields; if unavoidable, compensation should be 10 times the prevailing market rate.

On farm inputs, the group wants the quantity of fertiliser under the Farmer ID and e‑token system to be adjusted according to the actual crop requirement, not fixed quotas that often leave farmers short. They are also demanding that a government testing laboratory for soil, fertiliser and pesticides be set up in every district to prevent misuse of sub‑standard inputs.

Lockdown style alert in Bhopal

Police in Bhopal have imposed a tighter security cordon, citing the possibility of road‑blockades and large‑scale rallies around the Chief Minister’s residence and the state assembly. Officers say they are acting under provisions governing public assembly and traffic safety, arguing that unlicensed road‑blockades on national or state highways cannot be allowed.

Farm leaders, however, accuse the administration of pre‑emptively criminalising dissent by confining activists at home and stopping tractors and farm vehicles before they reach the capital.

What comes next?

The farmers’ group has warned that if the 15‑point demands are not addressed through dialogue, it may escalate the agitation into larger road‑blockades and assembly‑building demonstrations. State authorities now face the political challenge of de‑escalating the situation by either acknowledging the demands in a structured meeting or risk seeing the issue harden into a broader agrarian‑rights movement ahead of the next state‑level assembly calendar.