{"id":83682,"date":"2026-01-22T10:56:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T05:26:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=83682"},"modified":"2026-01-22T11:32:51","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T06:02:51","slug":"punjab-border-fence-shift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/punjab-border-fence-shift\/","title":{"rendered":"Punjab Border Fence Shift: Why Farmers Want It Moved Closer to Pakistan Border"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Punjab Border Fence Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Punjab Chief Minister said the Centre has agreed in principle to move the security fence closer to the India\u2013Pakistan border, a step that could restore access to farmland lying beyond the fence.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The proposal, discussed earlier but never implemented, revives questions around its origins, security concerns, and why relief for border farmers has remained elusive.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Why Punjab\u2019s Border Fence Has Become a Farmers\u2019 Flashpoint<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-83693\" src=\"https:\/\/d35xcwcl37xo08.cloudfront.net\/current-affairs-wp-uploads\/2026\/01\/International-Border-in-Punjab.jpg\" alt=\"International Border in Punjab\" width=\"980\" height=\"992\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d35xcwcl37xo08.cloudfront.net\/current-affairs-wp-uploads\/2026\/01\/International-Border-in-Punjab.jpg 980w, https:\/\/d35xcwcl37xo08.cloudfront.net\/current-affairs-wp-uploads\/2026\/01\/International-Border-in-Punjab-768x777.jpg 768w, https:\/\/d35xcwcl37xo08.cloudfront.net\/current-affairs-wp-uploads\/2026\/01\/International-Border-in-Punjab-120x120.jpg 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 980px) 100vw, 980px\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Punjab\u2019s 532-km border with Pakistan is secured by a barbed-wire fence that, due to uneven terrain, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lies anywhere from a few feet to nearly 2 km inside Indian territory<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a result, about 21,500 acres of privately owned farmland and 10,000 acres of government land fall between the fence and the International Border.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Farmers cultivating this land face strict restrictions. Access gates open only for limited hours on fixed days, with caps on the number of people and tractors allowed.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each tractor must be escorted by two <\/span><b>BSF Kisan Guards<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, further limiting daily access.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Border farmers have long demanded that the fence be moved closer to the International Border to ease cultivation.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Why the Punjab Border Fence Was Built<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The electrified barbed-wire fence along the Punjab\u2013Pakistan border was first installed in 1988 across Gurdaspur, Amritsar and Ferozepur, at the height of militancy in the state. Its primary <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">purpose was to curb infiltration, militancy and drug smuggling<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the time, farmers did not protest, as dissent was often viewed with suspicion during those volatile years.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 1992, farmers formed the <\/span><b>Border Area Sangharsh Committee<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to raise their concerns, but the issue has remained unresolved.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With the later creation of Tarn Taran, Fazilka and Pathankot districts, the fence now affects border communities across six districts in Punjab.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Kapoor Committee and Farmer Compensation<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Kapoor Committee, headed by then Punjab Chief Secretary S L Kapoor, was constituted in 1986 to examine the difficulties faced by farmers whose land lay beyond the border fence.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It recommended compensating affected farmers, leading to the release of an inconvenience allowance of \u20b92,500 per acre in 1988.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, farmers say this compensation has been irregular and not paid annually.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Farmers Seek Fence Shift Amid Evolving Security Landscape<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Punjab\u2019s border farmers argue that advances in surveillance and drone monitoring have changed the nature of border security, making the current fence alignment outdated.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With hundreds of acres trapped behind the fence, farmers face daily checks, delays in using machinery, and hurdles in transporting crops.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They say shifting the fence closer to the International Border would ease cultivation without compromising security, given improved monitoring and adequate defence resources.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Why the Border Fence Remains Unmoved<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite repeated proposals, shifting the Punjab border fence has not materialised due to practical and administrative hurdles.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BSF officials say the nearly 40-year-old fence is in poor condition and moving it would require dismantling and rebuilding it with newly procured barbed wire.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Farmers, meanwhile, remain sceptical, noting that similar assurances have surfaced during elections in the past without any follow-through, including in 2023 when a possible fence shift was announced but never implemented.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b><strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/why-punjab-farmers-want-security-fence-moved-closer-to-border-with-pakistan-10487846\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/india-news\/indiapakistan-border-security-fence-to-shift-says-punjab-cm-mann-after-meeting-amit-shah-what-it-means-101768746864903.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">HT<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Punjab border farmers seek the shifting of the Punjab Border Fence closer to the International Border.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":83708,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[60,4875,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-83682","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-mains-articles","9":"tag-punjab-border-fence","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83682\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}