The Chief Minister's Office of Uttarakhand, on Saturday, 6 June 2026, shared a statement from Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami describing the 'Khet Bachao Abhiyan' (Save the Farmland Campaign) as a mass movement sweeping the country, crediting the campaign's momentum to the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Context

CM Dhami was quoted as saying: 'Khet Bachao Abhiyan' — 'This Save the Farmland Campaign being run under the able leadership of respected Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji and our Agriculture Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan ji has today become a people's movement across the entire country.' The statement, posted from the official @ukcmo handle, positions Uttarakhand as an active participant in the centrally-driven agricultural outreach.

The campaign's name translates literally to 'Save the Fields Mission,' signalling a focus on protecting agricultural land from degradation, diversion, or abandonment — a concern particularly acute in hill states like Uttarakhand, where out-migration has left large tracts of farmland fallow.

Policy Backdrop

The endorsement fits a pattern of centre-state coordination on rural welfare that has defined agricultural policy since 2014. The central government's flagship PM-KISAN scheme, launched in 2019, provides direct annual income support to landholding farmer families, while the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, introduced in 2020, finances post-harvest infrastructure to reduce crop losses.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who served multiple terms as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh before moving to the Union Cabinet, has built a political identity closely tied to farmer welfare programmes. His stewardship of the Agriculture Ministry has continued that focus at the national level. PM Modi's government has repeatedly framed agricultural campaigns as public mobilisation exercises, blending scheme delivery with grassroots outreach.

Stakeholders and Impact

Farmers across Uttarakhand — a state where agriculture supports a significant share of the rural population but faces structural challenges including fragmented landholdings and youth out-migration — stand as the primary stakeholders. A campaign framed as a 'jan andolan' (people's movement) typically seeks voluntary community participation alongside formal government delivery mechanisms.

By amplifying the campaign through the Chief Minister's voice, the state government signals alignment with New Delhi's agricultural messaging ahead of any potential budgetary or legislative action on land-use policy. Such statements also serve to mobilise local administrative machinery and farmer groups at the district and block levels.

What's Next

Observers will watch for state-level implementation details — including whether Uttarakhand announces specific targets, funding allocations, or district-level drives under the Khet Bachao Abhiyan banner. Any parliamentary discussion of farmland protection provisions in upcoming budget sessions could give the campaign a legislative dimension.

The framing of a central agricultural campaign as a 'national people's movement' by a state chief minister also sets the stage for broader political mobilisation around farmer welfare, a perennially significant issue ahead of state and general election cycles.