Bhopal, April 3 – Congress workers staged a massive protest on Friday, alleging that delays in procuring wheat crops under the Minimum Support Price (MSP) in Madhya Pradesh were forcing farmers to sell their produce to middlemen at low prices.
A large number of Youth Congress workers, along with local party leaders, blocked a National Highway in Shujalpur, Shajapur district, causing long queues of vehicles and significant traffic disruption for several hours.
Due to the blockade, the movement of all vehicles (except emergency vehicles like ambulances) came to a complete standstill from morning to afternoon.
Upon receiving information about the incident, a heavy police force arrived at the site and dispersed the protesters using water cannons, with the assistance of the fire brigade.
According to information, police have detained more than two dozen Congress workers, including a couple of local Congress MLAs.
All the detainees were taken to a nearby police station.
Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Congress President Jitu Patwari said on Friday that the state government had not sent a proposal to the Centre for adequate gunny bags to be used for packing wheat crops after procuring directly from farmers at government-run mandis.
"The state government has sent a proposal for 2.60 crore gunny bags against the requirement of nearly 10 crores to Central agencies. This shortfall highlights the state government's negligence," Patwari added during a press conference in Bhopal.
The Congress leader also said that the state government is required to submit a timely requisition to the Centre based on its specific requirements for gunny bags, and allocations are subsequently made based on requisition and an advance payment.
"However, the state government neither submitted a requisition for an adequate quantity in a timely manner nor made the requisite payments on time, resulting in a severe shortage of gunny bags," Patwari alleged.
The procurement of wheat at the MSP for the Rabi Marketing Year 2026–27 in Madhya Pradesh, which was scheduled to begin on April 1, has now been rescheduled to begin on April 10 in Ujjain, Bhopal, Indore, and Narmadapuram divisions.
Similarly, the procurement process in the remaining divisions – Rewa, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Shahdol, Chambal, and Sagar – which was scheduled to begin on April 7, will now commence on April 15.
This is the second time the state government has rescheduled the process.
"Earlier, procurement was scheduled to begin on March 16, which was later deferred to April 1," according to an official statement on March 31.
Notably, wheat procurement in the state will be carried out at a rate of Rs 2,625 per quintal, including an additional bonus of Rs 40 per quintal for farmers.
More than 19,04,651 farmers have registered for wheat procurement at the MSP during the Rabi Marketing Season 2026–27.
Madhya Pradesh is among the country's leading wheat-producing states.
This year, the state government has announced an MSP of Rs 2,625 per quintal, including a bonus of Rs 40 per quintal.