Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday, 26 June 2026, presided over the inauguration of central government schemes and the launch of the 'Khet Bachao Abhiyan' (Save the Farmland Campaign) in Rudrapur, Udham Singh Nagar, alongside Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The joint event underscored the BJP-led centre and state government's push to channel agricultural welfare programmes directly to farmers in the Terai region.

Context

Chief Minister Dhami's post, shared live on 26 June 2026, announced the event in Hindi: 'रुद्रपुर, ऊधम सिंह नगर में केंद्रीय योजनाओं का लोकार्पण एवं खेत बचाओ अभियान कार्यक्रम' — translated as 'Inauguration of central schemes and the Khet Bachao Abhiyan programme in Rudrapur, Udham Singh Nagar.' The presence of Union Minister Chouhan, tagged directly in the post, signals federal co-ownership of the initiative. Rudrapur is the commercial hub of Udham Singh Nagar, a Terai district known for its fertile agricultural belt and large farming population.

Policy Backdrop

The event fits within a broader pattern of joint central-state launches of agricultural welfare schemes in BJP-governed states, designed to visibly link central funding with on-the-ground rural campaigns. Long-running programmes such as the PM-KISAN direct benefit transfer scheme — launched nationally in 2019 — and the National Food Security Mission, expanded in 2007, have formed the backbone of agricultural support in states like Uttarakhand. The 'Khet Bachao Abhiyan' appears aimed at addressing farmland preservation, a persistent concern in the Terai where rapid industrial and urban expansion has put pressure on agricultural land.

Udham Singh Nagar has historically been at the intersection of Uttarakhand's industrial ambitions and its agrarian identity. The district hosts a significant number of small and marginal farmers who depend on the Terai's fertile plains, making it a politically and economically sensitive zone for any land-use or agricultural policy intervention.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries of the event are Uttarakhand's farming communities, particularly landowners and cultivators in Udham Singh Nagar who stand to gain from direct benefit transfers and scheme rollouts tied to the inauguration. Rural landowners facing encroachment or land-use conversion pressures are the intended audience of the 'Khet Bachao Abhiyan.' The simultaneous presence of both the state's Chief Minister and a senior Union Cabinet minister amplifies the political weight of the event, signalling that farmland protection is being elevated as a joint priority.

The broader farming constituency across Uttarakhand's Terai districts — including Haridwar and Nainital — will watch closely to see whether the campaign extends beyond Rudrapur and translates into concrete administrative and financial commitments at the district level.

What's Next

The key questions following the Rudrapur event are whether the 'Khet Bachao Abhiyan' will be rolled out across other Uttarakhand districts and whether the state government will back the campaign with dedicated budgetary allocations linked to central agricultural funds. Follow-up announcements from the state agriculture department and any revisions to Uttarakhand's land-use or revenue policies will determine the initiative's actual reach. The event sets a political benchmark for the BJP's outreach to the farming vote bank in the state ahead of future electoral cycles.