Supreme Court appointed team begins talks; meets ten groups

New Delhi: The Supreme Court-appointed expert panel on farm laws held a meeting with 10 farmers’ organisations from eight states on Thursday to elicit their views and suggestions on the three contentious farm laws. However, no organisation from Haryana and Punjab - the epicentre of the farmer protests - participated in the meeting. “We had invited 18 organisations today over videoconferencing. But only 10 could turn up. Now we will hold the next meeting with at least 20 farmer organisations on January 27,” PK Joshi, a member of the panel, told ET.

Shetkari Sanghathan president Anil Ghanwat and farm expert Ashok Gulati are the other two members of the panel. The panel has to submit its recommendations within two months. Organisations from Kerala, Karnataka, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Maharashtra participated in the meeting. Joshi said the farmers who proactively participated in the discussion were keen to end the impasse at the earliest. “We received their views. We will soon come up with questionnaires on farm laws which will help farmers give sharp responses. Our final report will reflect opinions of farmers from across the country,” he said.

None of the organisations favoured repeal of the laws, said people aware of the matter. “However, a few of them suggested amendments to the existing provisions to make them more farmer-friendly,” said one of the persons, who did not wish to be identified. The government is hopeful of a constructive discussion on Friday when farmers’ unions will revert to the government’s proposal of suspending farm laws for one and a half years. “It’s as good as repealing the laws. Unions may not get a better deal. Going by the body language of union leaders in the meeting held on Wednesday, they will agree to it, although they may ask for a few more months of suspension,” said a senior agriculture ministry official.