New Delhi: The first meeting of the Committee, appointed by the Supreme Court to deliberate with concerned stakeholders on the recently-notified three Farm Laws, was held on Tuesday.
The three-member committee consists of Agriculture Economist Ashok Gulati, leading Agricultural Scientist Dr Pramod Kumar Joshi and Shetkari Sanghatana president Anil Ghanwat.
Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) president Bhupinder Singh Mann, however, had recused himself from the panel last week.
The Supreme Court had, on January 12, suspended the implementation of three farm laws until further orders and constituted the four-member committee, to understand the ground situation and get a clear picture about the laws.
Dr Gulati, former Chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices; Mr Ghanwat, President of Shetkari Sanghatana and Dr Joshi, former Director for South Asia, International Food Policy Research Institute, participated in the meeting.
The committee discussed the road map of activities for the Committee for two months to prepare their recommendations after discussion with farmers, farmers’ bodies, farmers’ unions and other stakeholders.
Addressing the media, Mr Ghanwat said as per the direction of the Supreme Court, the Committee will hold discussion with farmers and farmers’ bodies in the country, who are both pro and against the Farm Laws.
Earlier, Rakesh Tikait, leader of the Indian Farmers Union, refused to meet the committee members. He said, “We don’t know, we are not going to the first meeting of the committee formed. No one went to court with the movement. The government brought the bill through an ordinance, it was introduced in the House. It will go back the same way from where it came. “
