Supreme Court-appointed panel formed to study the three new farm laws is likely to submit its report to the apex court by March 21. Some news reports suggest that the draft report by the committee has been sent for printing and will be submitted as per schedule.
In January this year, Supreme Court put the three new contentious farm laws on hold and ordered to constitute a committee to be headed by a former Chief Justice of India to resolve the impasse between the Centre and farmers against the laws. The SC also stayed the implementation of the farm laws until further orders.
The three-member committee, initially comprised of Bhupinder Singh Mann, president, Bharatiya Kisan Union and All India Kisan Coordination Committee, Anil Ghanwat, president, Shetkari Sanghtana, Pramod Joshi, agricultural economist, and Ashok Gulati, agricultural economist and former chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices. Mann however, resigned shortly afterwards, leaving the three members to continue the work.
A time frame of two-months was fixed for the committee to study the laws and consult all stakeholders before submitting its report. The committee has been working out of the Pusa campus of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute for the past two months.
News reports suggest that the committee is learned to have spoken to 73 farmers and processors organizations. Keeping in mind the COVID-19 situation, most of the hearings were held online. Suggestions and opinions have been taken from the general public too.
Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at several Delhi border points since November 26, 2020, demanding a repeal of three farm laws - Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
They also demanded a legal guarantee on Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for their crops.