Chandigarh: Punjab BJP chief Kewal Singh Dhillon on Tuesday wrote to World Bank president Ajay Banga, calling for a transformative role in partnership with the government of India in agricultural diversification financing and rural entrepreneurship ecosystems for the border state.
India’s leadership under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has demonstrated an unparalleled commitment to rural transformation, and a deepened World Bank partnership within that framework would carry enormous reach and credibility, Dhillon wrote.
“Punjab will rise again, and its farmers will be at the centre of that resurgence. I extend this letter as an invitation to engage more deeply with the ground realities of rural Punjab, and I would be honoured to facilitate such an engagement at your convenience,” the Punjab BJP chief said in a statement.
He added, “I’ve invited the World Bank to partner with the Government of India to build the Punjab our people have earned. Our commitment is clear — a Nasha Mukt Punjab is not a dream, it is BJP’s promise.”
Dhillon observed that wealth transition among rural families who are selling land reflects broader structural changes in Punjab’s agrarian economy, including the absence of alternative livelihoods, skill development opportunities and financial guidance.
The letter states: “Your recent remarks about young farmers in Punjab, widely reported in the media, have prompted considerable anger, anguish and discussion and I believe they offer an opportunity for a constructive conversation that Punjab genuinely needs.”
He continued, “I appreciate that your observations stem from a place of genuine concern and connection to Punjab’s roots. The challenge of wealth transition among land-selling rural families is indeed a real phenomenon, and one that deserves serious policy attention. However, I would respectfully invite you to consider that this pattern is less a reflection of individual choices and more a symptom of the structural transitions that Punjab’s farming communities are navigating the shift away from an agrarian economy without adequate alternative livelihoods, skilling pathways, or financial guidance to anchor newly acquired resources.”
Dhillon urged the World Bank President to deepen collaboration with the Government of India in areas such as agricultural diversification, rural entrepreneurship, financing, skilling and financial literacy for farming communities, and integrated rural development.
He wrote, “The farmers of Punjab are among the most resilient and hardworking people in this country. For three generations, they produced the grain surplus that ensured India’s food security, often at great personal and environmental cost. They deserve our empathy and our solutions, not a characterisation that risks reducing their complex struggle to a stereotype. I am confident that upon reflection, that is a view you would share.”
