Member of SC-appointed Panel Asks Apex Court To Make Report on Farm Laws Public

Anil Ghanwat stated that the demand for a guarantee of the minimum support price is not feasible at the moment.

Farmers stage a protest at Singhu border during their ‘Dilli Chalo’ march against the Centre’s new farm laws, in New Delhi, December 2020. Image used for representational purposes.

(Photo: PTI/Ravi Choudhary)

Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Centre’s three farm laws will be repealed, Anil Ghanwat, one of the members of the Supreme Court committee on the farm laws, appealed to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, 23 November, to make the panel’s report public.

In a letter to the Chief Justice of India N V Ramana, Ghanwat said:

“After the government’s decision to repeal the farm laws in the coming Winter Session of the Parliament, the committee’s report is no longer relevant with regard to those laws but there are suggestions in the report on farmers’ issues that are of great public interest."

Anil Ghanwat, as quoted by Indian Express

Ghanwat, a senior leader of Shetkari Sanghatana, was further quoted as saying, “The report can also play an educational role and ease the misapprehensions of many farmers who have, in my opinion, been misguided by some leaders who do not seem to appreciate how a minimally regulated free market can allocate national resources to their most productive use.”

Stating that the demand for a guarantee of the minimum support price (MSP) is not feasible at the moment and might result in a crisis for the Indian economy, Ghanwat said while addressing a press conference, “We should have a policy that is in the interest of farmers and does not distort the market.”

While halting the implementation of the farm laws, the Supreme Court had constituted a committee to look into them on 12 January this year. The committee’s report was submitted on 13 March. However, it is yet to be made public.

(With inputs from The Indian Express.)