Farm laws: Committee member says report 100% in farmers' favor
Hopeful of an early resolution to the long-running farmers' protests on the national capital borders, a key member of the Supreme Court-appointed panel on contentious agri-laws on Wednesday said the report submitted by the committee is "cent percent" in favor of farmers and the Supreme Court must take up the matter without any delay. Here's more.
Government and SC shouldn't dump the report: Member
The panel member acknowledged that the government and the SC have to consider the law and order issue that may arise with the release of the report for which they needed to take time, but "they just cannot dump it and they shouldn't dump it."
Many 'defects' in the laws need to be addressed: Ghanwat
Shetkari Sanghatana President Anil J Ghanwat, the panel member who had written to the Chief Justice of India on September 1 urging him to make the report public, also said the committee doesn't support repeal of the three laws, as being demanded by protesting farmers. However, his organization certainly believed that there are "many defects" in the laws that needed to be addressed.
Important for SC to release report at the earliest: Ghanwat
It is therefore very important for the apex court to release the report in the public domain at the earliest to clear all apprehensions of farmers, Ghanwat said. "When the people will know the content of the report, they will decide whether the new farm laws are in favor of farmers or not," he said.
Recommendations in the report will lead to a resolution: Ghanwat
It's been five months since we submitted our report to the court and I can't understand what could be the reasons for the court to not take cognizance of the report, he said. In his letter to the CJI, Ghanwat had said, "The committee was confident that the recommendations in the report will pave the way to resolve the ongoing farmers' agitation."
SC had constituted the committee on January 12, 2021
While suspending the implementation of the three farm laws, the Supreme Court had constituted a Committee on January 12, 2021, to which Ghanwat was nominated as a member to represent the farming community. Other members of the committee are Ashok Gulati, former chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) and Pramod Kumar Joshi from the International Food Policy Research Institute.
Pained that the issue isn't resolved yet: Ghanwat
"As a member of the committee, I am pained that the issue raised by the farmers isn't resolved and the agitation is continuing. I feel that the report has not been given any attention by the Hon'ble Supreme Court," Ghanwat wrote in his letter.
The new farm laws do not talk about MSP: Ghanwat
Everyone's views have been taken into consideration while finalizing the report, he said. The main concern is that the Minimum Support Price will be wiped out, but that's not true. The new farm laws do not talk about MSP, but there was a lot of fear-mongering on this issue, he added. Notably, farmers have been protesting on various Delhi borders for over nine months.
