The Supreme Court-appointed panel did not favour the total repeal of the three controversial farm laws and had suggested instead, leaving procurement of crops at a specified price to the states and scrapping of Essential Commodities Act, one of the three members of the panel said on Monday while releasing the committee’s report.
Pune-based farmer leader Anil Ghanwat said he had written to the Supreme Court on three occasions for releasing the report of the committee but in the absence of a response, he was releasing it on his own.
The other two members — economist Ashok Gulati and agri-economist Pramod Kumar Joshi — were absent at a hurriedly called press conference here.
The panel had submitted its recommendations on the three farm laws, which among other things, allowed farmers to sell agri produce to private entities outside the government mandis, on March 19, 2021.
These three farm laws were repealed by the Modi government in November last year, ahead of assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
Addressing the press conference, Ghanwat said the committee had also recommended many changes in the laws, including giving freedom to states to make Minimum Support Price system legal.
The panel had also suggested that the open-ended procurement policy should be discontinued and a model contract agreement should be formulated.
Ghanwat said he would very soon come out with a discussion paper on agricultural policy and would also organise a rally in Delhi of more than one lakh farmers in October to push agri reforms.
