Supreme Court Committee Holds Meetings with Top Officials of Agriculture Ministry on Farm Laws

On Thursday, the Supreme Court named a panel on new farm laws to hold consultations with senior officials of the ministries of agriculture, food processing and consumer relations on the laws for which farmers have been protesting for over three months at the borders of Delhi.

This is the ninth meeting so far that the panel has had. The three-member committee conducts online and in-person meetings with stakeholders. In a statement, the committee stated that it had in-person contact with the Chairman of the Agriculture Secretary Commission for Prices Additional Secretary and Agricultural Costs , Joint Secretary in the NABARD Cooperative as well as Department of Consumer Affairs Director.

The meeting was attended by a video conference by the NABARD Chairman and Deputy Managing Director, Food Corporation of India (FCI) Advisor, Small Farmers Agri Business Consortium (SFAC) Managing Director, National Horticultural Board Managing Director as well as Food Processing Industries Secretary.

The members of the committee asked the participating officers to give their opinions on the three laws on the farm. The statement said all the participating officers offered their detailed views and suggestions. The Supreme Court stayed the enforcement of the three disputed farm laws for two months on 12 January and ordered the committee to send a report within two months of meeting the stakeholders.

For almost three months now, thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and parts of Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at the borders of Delhi demanding the repeal of the new laws adopted last year by the Centre, claiming that they are pro-corporate and may undermine the mandi system.

So far, 11 rounds of consultations between the Centre and 41 protesting farmers' unions have been deadlocked. The government gave compromises, including the suspension of rules for 18 months, which were refused by the unions.