The Supreme Court-appointed committee on the three farm laws has said that around 84% of the farmer unions, that talked to the committee, representing more than 3 crore farmers in the country had supported the farm laws which were repealed after agitations broke in the states of Punjab, Haryana and parts of UP. The SC panel had advocated for the retention of the three acts while allowing flexibility to the states in implementing and designing them with the central government’s approval. The report was made public by the committee on Monday.
The four-member committee stated that repealing the essential Farm laws would be unfair upon the silent majority of farmers who supported the laws all across the country. In January 2020, after putting a stay on implementation of the farm laws which had stirred much controversy within a section of farmers, The apex court set up a panel of distinguished experts to study the aspects of the laws. The panel constituted four members including agriculture economist Ashok Gulati, Anil Ghanwat, President of Shetkari Sanghatana (Maharashtra), International Food Policy Research Institute’s Pramod Kumar Joshi and Bhupinder Singh Mann, president of a faction of the Bhartiya Kisan Union who later left the panel.
Anil Ghanwat said that while the observations of the committee hold little significance in terms of its impact on the laws as they have already been repealed, it is significant for policy makers and farmers in general. The report says that committee had reached out to 266 farm organisations, including the unions agitating against the farm laws. The committee had also received 19,027 representations on the dedicated portal and 1,520 emails.
Reportedly, the panel had submitted the report on March 19, 2021, in a sealed envelope to the Supreme Court, several months before the three farm laws were withdrawn by the central govt. Anil Ghanwat had also written to the Supreme Court and PM Modi to release the report. As it was not done, the panel decided to make it public a year after it was submitted. “On March 19, 2021, we submitted the report to the Supreme Court. We wrote letters to the apex court three times requesting it to release the report. But we did not get any response,” Ghanwat said. He added that he is releasing the report today as it has no relevance now after the laws are already withdrawn.
According to the report of the panel, out of 73 farmer unions representing 3.83 crore farmers, 61 organisations had supported the farm laws. Only four unions representing 51 lakh farmers had opposed them, and the rest 7 unions wanted some amendments in the laws. However, the panel informed that the farmer organisations leading the protests in Delhi didn’t attend the interactive sessions with the committee, despite repeated invites sent to them. 40 unions, which had organised agitations against the laws under the banner of Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), didn’t made any representations to the SC-appointed panel.
“It may, however, be noted that in these interactive sessions with Farmers Organizations, the agitating farmers’ organizations at the periphery of Delhi did not join the discussions with the Committee despite repeated invites sent to them. The Committee was informed that the organizations were not willing to present before the Committee and preferred bilateral discussions with the Government. The Committee respects their decision of not participating in its deliberations. However, their concerns, as ascertained from media reports and interactions with Government, have been kept in mind by the Committee, while formulating its recommendations,” the report said.
The report stated that around two thirds of the suggestions received on the dedicated portal supported the farm laws. Moreover, only only 27.5%of the farmers sold their produce at Minimum Support Price (MSP) and they were mainly form Chhatisgarh, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh.
The report also contains multiple suggestions made by the members on the implementation of the laws and collaborations between different parties involved over the acceptance of the laws. The report suggests that alternative mechanisms for dispute settlement, through civil courts or arbitration mechanisms such as farmer courts may be provided to the stakeholders. It suggests that agricultural infrastructure in the country can be strengthened by the formation of cooperatives and Farmer Producer organizations (FPOs), while an agriculture marketing council with all states and UTs as members may be formed for implementation of the farm laws.
The committee also recommended to cap procurement of wheat and paddy by Food Corporation of India (FCI). The committee said that the model adopted by the National Cooperative Agricultural Marketing Federation (NAFED) in terms of procurement of oilseeds and pulses can be adopted for wheat and paddy. NAFED procures 25 per cent of the total produce with a cap on individual procurement from farmers.
On November 19, 2021, In a video address, Prime Minsiter of India Narendra Modi had announced the repeal of the farm laws on account of Guru Nanak Jayanti. The laws already stayed by the Supreme Court, and as the farmer unions continued to block roads around Delhi, the govt had decided to relent. For over a year, agitating farmers had taken hostage the major arterial roads leading to Delhi while in many instances violence broke out inside the camps. The protesters lost national sympathy for their cause after they stormed the Red fort and surrounding streets on January 26, 2020, which resulted in riots after the republic day parade.
Several recommendations by the SC panel include the Development of price information and market intelligence system to strengthen the bargaining power of the farmers, Converting existing APMCs to revenue-generating entities, and abolishing the Essential Commodities Act, 1995.
