SC panel report on Acts could break farmers-Centre stalemate: Ghanwat

Ghanwat recently wrote a letter CJI requesting him to make the report public, says some of the recommendations in the report are 100% in favour of farmers

Anil Ghanwat, a prominent member of the three-member Supreme Court-appointed panel to study the three controversial farm acts, says their recommendations made in the report might help in breaking the more than eight-month long stalemate between agitating farmers and the government.

Ghanwat recently wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of India requesting him to make the report public.

“I feel if the contents of the report are made public it might stir a healthy debate and if there is no unnecessary fear mongering as has been done for the three farm acts, it could help in ending the more than eight-month long stalemate between protesting farmers and the government,” Ghanwat told Business Standard.

He said some of the recommendations made in the report are 100 per cent in favour of the farmers.

“I only want the report to be in the public domain so that what we have gathered from the exercise is shared with the public and let there be debate and discussions on the same. I know some people won’t agree with the contents and will burn copies of the report but that shouldn’t stop us from deliberating on the recommendations,” Ghanwat said.

Ghanwat in his letter said that the report has tried to address several of the apprehensions of the protesting farmers but it seems the same has not been given due attention by the SC.

Though neither Ghanwat nor the other members of the panel disclosed the contents of the report as they are bound by oath, but going by their past statements and also stand on various issues, it seems highly unlikely that the panel would have favoured scrapping the three laws as is being demanded by the protesting farmers.

“As a member of the Shetkari Sangthana, we had taken a stand back in June 2020 that the farm acts are good and on the lines of the long standing demand made by our organisation, but the laws had some flaws which needed to be addressed or else they won’t have any meaning,” Ghanwat said.

However, the protesting farmers have long rejected the SC-appointed panel and none of them appeared before the committee in all its sittings. So far, no one from the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), which has been spearheading the farmers’ agitation has spoken out on the letter written by Ghanwat.

Ghanwat in a separate interaction with news agency PTI said that one main concern of protesting farmers is that the minimum support price (MSP) will be wiped out, but that is not true.

“The new farm laws do not talk about MSP, but there was a lot of fear-mongering on this issue, he said.

Farmers have been protesting on various borders of the national capital for over nine months, demanding repeal of the three laws and also a legal guarantee for MSP.

On the possibility of implementing the new laws in a phase manner, Ghanwat said, "Of course, we can," but he declined to share if this was one of the recommendations of the committee.

Timeline of Events

December 17, 2020: Supreme Court asks Centre whether it is possible to put on hold implementation of three farm acts following sustained agitation by farmers.

January 12, 2021: The Supreme Court stays implementation of the three farm Acts till further orders and constitutes a four-member committee to resolve the impasse over the laws between the Centre and protesting farmers.

The Committee comprised of Infosys Chair Professor for Agriculture at ICRIER Ashok Gulati, Pramod Kumar Joshi, Former director-South Asia, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Bhupinder Singh Mann, Former Rajya Sabha MP and member of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Mann) and Anil Ghanwat.

January 14, 2021: Bhupinder Singh Mann recuses himself from the Committee on the grounds that he will not compromise with the interest of farmers and Punjab.

January 20, 2021: Centre proposes to stay implementation of the farm acts for 1.5 years

March 19, 2021: The SC-appointed panel submits its report to the SC after holding meetings with more than 90 farmers’ groups and representatives of other stakeholders. But, protesting farmers don’t come forward for the deliberations.

September 01, 2021: Anil Ghanwat, one of the panel members writes to the SC to make the report public and help in ending farmers' stalemate.

What other members of the panel had said on Farm Acts

Ashok Gulati: A 1991 moment for agriculture: Proposed reforms in agri-marketing laws address long-standing needs of farmers. They could build efficient supply chains, ensure better products for consumers. Source: The Indian Express, May 18, 2020.

Pramod Kumar Joshi: Any rollback of the farm laws will be disastrous for the farm sector and farmers. If anyone is adversely affected (by the laws), it is the traders/middlemen, especially from Punjab and Haryana. The new laws will help India emerge as a leader in agriculture and agro-processing. If farmers remain adamant on repeal, the Centre should leave it to the states for implementing the laws with contextual modifications to the current Act. Source: Financial Express, December 15, 2020.