Once known as the food bowl of India, Punjab today stands at a worrying crossroads. Its fertile fields lie tired, its youth are gripped by addiction, and its economy is gasping under a mountain of debt. Behind this crisis is not a single catastrophe, but a combination of decades-long mismanagement, political apathy, and the slow decay of a once-vibrant social fabric. Punjab was once a shining example of prosperity in independent India. With sprawling farmlands, robust irrigation, and a proud farming culture, it fed a growing nation and contributed substantially to the Green Revolution. However, today, Punjab is no longer the state it once was. Farmers are in distress, families are torn apart by drugs, and industries have fled. Even more troubling is the sense of hopelessness slowly settling across its villages and towns.
The Green Revolution’s Bitter Harvest: Farming in Freefall
Punjab’s modern rise can be traced back to the Green Revolution of the 1960s and '70s. The introduction of high-yield variety seeds, chemical fertilizers, and mechanized farming turned the state into a national breadbasket. By the 1980s, Punjab was contributing more than 50% of wheat and rice to the national public distribution system.
Soil Degradation and Chemical Dependence
Years of chemical-heavy farming have exhausted the soil. The overuse of fertilizers, particularly nitrogen-based ones, has harmed natural organisms essential for soil health. Today, Punjab uses over 247 kg of fertilizers per hectare, far above the national average of 139 kg. This not only leads to diminishing returns but also makes farming increasingly unsustainable.
Water Crisis in a River-Rich Land
Ironically, despite its rivers and canals, Punjab faces a deepening water crisis. Over 79% of the state's groundwater blocks are over-exploited, with some areas drawing nearly double what is replenished annually. Crops like rice and cotton, which require tens of thousands of liters of water per hectare, have drained aquifers at an alarming pace.
Farmers continue to grow these water-thirsty crops because of government-backed Minimum Support Prices (MSP) and lack of reliable alternatives. Yet this short-term security is accelerating long-term disaster.
Debt and Despair: The Farmer’s Burden
Despite being among the highest agricultural earners in India, Punjab’s farmers are drowning in debt. Over 89% of them carry loans, many of which are taken from informal sources at exorbitant interest rates. Reports estimate the total farm debt in the state is between ₹70,000 crore and ₹1 lakh crore.
Intergenerational Financial Pressure
What’s worse, the debt is often passed down across generations. Farmer families routinely mortgage land, sell livestock, or abandon schooling to repay loans. In many tragic cases, suicide becomes the final escape. Between 2001 and 2021, over 16,000 farmers and laborers took their own lives in Punjab, according to government records—likely an undercount.
The Drug Epidemic: Punjab’s Lost Generation
Perhaps the most heart-wrenching aspect of Punjab’s decline is its drug crisis. Once full of dreams and defiance, Punjab’s youth are now fighting a different war — one against addiction.
Numbers That Shock
In the past few years, Punjab has consistently recorded the highest number of drug overdose deaths in India. In just nine months of 2023, the state reported 190 confirmed deaths due to narcotics. These figures only scratch the surface, as many deaths are misreported or concealed by families out of shame.
How the Drugs Get In
Punjab’s long border with Pakistan plays a pivotal role in the drug trade. Traffickers exploit the 550-km border by tossing drug packets over the fence, often with help from Indian farmers whose fields extend beyond the security barrier. Drones and underground tunnels have only worsened the problem.
But the external route isn’t the only issue. Multiple testimonies and reports suggest complicity from local police and politicians. This internal nexus not only enables distribution but also ensures that dealers are rarely punished meaningfully.
A Broken Economy: The Debt Spiral and Unemployment
As Punjab’s agricultural and social challenges deepen, its economy is also slipping into a worrisome decline. Once a thriving hub for small industries and manufacturing, the state now struggles to attract new investment. Numerous industrial units have relocated to neighbouring states such as Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, driven away by issues like corruption, inadequate infrastructure, and inconsistent policies.
Mounting Public Debt
Punjab’s fiscal situation is dire. The state’s debt-to-GSDP ratio is now over 45%, and if current trends continue, it could touch ₹5 lakh crore by 2032. This ballooning debt has severely restricted the state’s ability to invest in infrastructure or public services.
Nearly 66% of the state’s budget is consumed by salaries, pensions, subsidies, and interest payments, leaving little room for capital expenditure. Without strategic economic reforms, this model is unsustainable.
Jobless Youth and Migration
With agriculture in crisis and industry in retreat, Punjab’s youth face bleak employment prospects. Unemployment has risen sharply, especially among graduates. Frustrated and disillusioned, many seek opportunities abroad. Canada, Australia, the UK, and even Eastern Europe have seen a surge in Punjabi migration in recent years. The "brain drain" is not just an economic concern but a social one — families are being split and villages are losing their younger generations.
Governance Paralysis and Political Apathy
Another major reason for Punjab’s current condition is the failure of governance. Across party lines, politicians have favoured short-term populism—offering freebies like free electricity and MSP guarantees—over the difficult but necessary long-term reforms. Tackling complex challenges such as agricultural restructuring, drug enforcement, and industrial revival demands vision and courage, qualities that have been notably lacking in Punjab’s political leadership.
The Vote Trap
Policies are often shaped not by need but by vote banks. For example, no political party has dared to challenge or reform the MSP system due to concerns over potential backlash from farmers. Similarly, few leaders have acted decisively against police-drug mafias due to the risk of political exposure.
In this atmosphere of appeasement, Punjab continues to bleed.
Hope Still Remains: Pathways to Recovery
Despite this grim landscape, Punjab’s story doesn’t have to end in decline. There is still a chance to revive the state’s fortunes — if bold, evidence-based decisions are made.
Agricultural Reform
A shift from chemical to organic and natural farming is essential. It may involve short-term pain, but can lead to long-term sustainability. Shifting from water-intensive crops like rice and wheat to more sustainable and high-value alternatives such as pulses, fruits, and vegetables can significantly ease environmental strain while boosting farmers' incomes.
Training programs and government incentives should be designed to ease this transition.
Fighting the Drug Menace
Punjab urgently requires enhanced international collaboration to fortify its borders and dismantle the networks behind cross-border drug smuggling. Equally important is eliminating internal collusion, rooting out corrupt police officers and politicians who enable the drug trade. Community rehabilitation, youth engagement programs, and destigmatizing addiction are also essential.
Economic Revival
Instead of focusing only on subsidies, Punjab must rebuild its industrial base. Special economic zones, startup incentives, skill development programs, and improved connectivity can make Punjab competitive again.
Clean governance, digital transparency, and investment-friendly policies are key to restoring investor confidence.
Punjab's current crisis is not a sudden collapse, but a slow unravelling of decades of unresolved issues. It is the result of delayed reforms, apathetic governance, and misaligned priorities. However, Punjab is also a land of resilience, where farmers once fed a starving nation and youth once fought for freedom.
If the political leadership, civil society, and citizens come together with honesty and urgency, Punjab can rise again, not just as a proud memory of what it once was, but as a modern, sustainable, and prosperous state.