SC panel holds 1st meeting with farmers; 10 unions air frank views about agrarian laws

On Thursday, the Supreme Court-constituted committee held its first meeting with farmers' unions across the country via video conferencing to resolve the standoff over the farm laws. Even as BKU president Bhupinder Singh Mann has opted out of the panel, the three other members- agricultural economist Ashok Gulati, Pramod Kumar Joshi- Director, South Asia, International Food Policy Research Institute and Shetkari Sanghatana president Anil Ghanwat interacted with 10 farm unions from Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. These unions not only gave their frank views about the agrarian laws but also gave suggestions to improve the implementation of the laws.

Earlier on January 12, the apex court stayed the implementation of the farm laws and made it clear that the MSP system shall continue. The committee has been directed to solicit the views of the farm unions and the Centre. Moreover, this panel will submit its recommendations pertaining to the farm laws to the SC within two months from the date of its first sitting. Additionally, the representatives of all farmer unions, irrespective of whether they are holding a protest or not, have been asked to participate in the deliberations of the committee and put forth their viewpoints. 

Read: Punjab Govt Gives Rs 5 Lakh Each To Families Of 4 Farmers Who Died During Protest Against Farm Laws

Centre puts forward a new proposal

During the 11th round of talks on Wednesday, the Centre proposed to stay the implementation of the farm laws for a period of one and a half years. All India Kisan Sabha general secretary Hannan Mollah said that the Centre was ready to file an affidavit in the Supreme Court to this effect apart from implementing the recommendations of a committee to be formed on MSP and the agrarian laws. The farmers' unions agreed to consider this proposal and promised to get back to the Union government with their response at 12 pm on January 22.

Speaking to the media after the end of the meeting, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar stated that the discussions were held in a cordial manner. He maintained that the Centre is ready to amend the laws even as the farm unions are insisting on repealing them. Furthermore, Tomar exuded confidence that the talks might bear fruit during the next round of talks on Friday. Earlier, the Centre had agreed not to penalise farmers for stubble burning and to continue the present mechanism of giving subsided electricity for agricultural use. 

Read: Centre Stubborn Over Farm Laws: Pilot