Farmers Protest Latest News: Ahead of holding the first round of talks with the agitating farmers, Supreme Court-appointed key panel member Anil Ghanwat on Tuesday said that the committee will seek views of farmers and all other stakeholders on the new farm laws, besides the central and state governments.
He said that the first meet with farmers will be held on January 21 and the physical meeting will be held with those organisations who want to meet the panel in person. However, the video conferencing will be held with those who can’t come to the panel for talks.
“If the government wants to come and speak with us, we welcome it. We will hear the government too. The biggest challenge is to convince the agitating farmers to come and speak with us, we will try our level best,” Ghanwat said.
He further added that the Supreme Court-appointed panel on farm laws will not let their personal views on these Acts come in the way of their deliberations with various stakeholders. He also asserted that they are not on the side of any party or the government.
“Panel members will keep their personal views on farm laws aside while preparing report to be submitted to the Supreme Court,” he said.
The committee has been appointed by the Supreme Court and it is up to the apex court whom to appoint, he said on whether any replacement would be made for Mann.
“We want to request those farmers who don’t want to come before us that we are neither from any party nor from the government side. We are from the Supreme Court side,” he said on allegations by the agitating unions and opposition parties that all the members were pro-government.
Ghanwat said the first round of consultations with farmers and other stakeholders has been scheduled for Thursday.
The Supreme Court had set up the four-member panel on January 11, but one of them, Bhupinder Singh Mann, recused himself later after questions were raised by the agitating farmer unions about the views expressed by all members in the past in support of the contentious laws, against which thousands are protesting on Delhi borders for almost two months now.
Separately, nine rounds of talks have taken place between the government and agitating unions without any concrete resolution.