‛We’ll try to convince farmers’ – says SC panel, member backs reform

New Delhi : The government will once again talk to the angry farmers unions about the agricultural law. This will be the 10th round of talks. However, no solution has been found till now. The demand of farmers is still the same, repealing the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act 2020, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Price Assurance and Agricultural Services Agreement Act 2020 and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020 and the Minimum Support Price (MSP) demand legal guarantee for purchase of crops.

Now, the Supreme Court-appointed committee of experts held its first meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday, a day ahead of the next round of talks between the Centre and farmer unions opposed to the new agriculture laws. In this meeting, its members said they would “try to convince” the protesting farmers while seeking views of other farmer organisations and the government.

Shetkari Sanghatana president Anil Ghanwat, addressing the press along with the two other members of the committee, agricultural economists Parmod Kumar Joshi and Ashok Gulati, said: “Committee members will keep aside their personal ideology on the farm laws while preparing the report to be submitted to the Supreme Court. We have to listen to the agitating farmers and other farmers on what they want. Our duty is to listen to them and place it before the Supreme Court. We are not here to impose our ideology.”

Here, Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar had said on Monday in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, that every time the farmers unions have been asked to discuss the provision, to consider the provision which the farmer is suffering and the government is discussing it with an open mind to amend it and wants to do it anyhow, but the provision is not being discussed by the union, so the deadlock continues. He expressed the hope that if the farmers unions discuss options in the next round of meeting, a way out will be found.