All Members On SC Committee Had Backed Farm Laws In The Past: Here's What They Had Said

The four members of the Supreme Court-appointed committee to help resolve the ongoing farmers' protest, have taken pro-farm law stance in the recent past, news reports have suggested.

The decision to form a committee came as Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the implementation of the farm laws and set up a four-member committee to break the logjam in negotiations between the Modi government and the farmers protesting against the legislations.

The four members are agricultural economists Dr Pramod Kumar Joshi and Professor Ashok Gulati, Anil Ghanwat, president of the Shetkari Sanghatana, a Maharashtra-based farmer organisation, and Bhupinder Singh Mann, national president of a splinter unit of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU).

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In its order, the court said the committee will listen to the "grievances of the farmers relating to the farm laws and the views of the government and make recommendations". However, it has been found that all four members have backed the three farmer laws all along. Only, Mann¡¯s BKU faction ¡ª BKU (Mann) ¡ª and the Shetkari Sanghatana want the laws implemented with some amendments.

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Dr Pramod Kumar Joshi, agricultural economist

A prominent name in the field of agriculture research, Joshi has earlier served as South Asia director at the International Food Policy Research Institute.

He has all along backed the three farm laws that Parliament cleared last September.

In an article he wrote in The Financial Express last month, Joshi said any dilution in the farm laws will constrain Indian agriculture in harnessing the emerging global opportunities.

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Professor Ashok Gulati, agricultural economist

Gulati, who was also a member of Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council from 1999 to 2001, has written opinion pieces in national dailies, and also spoken to the media in support of the farm laws.

For instance, in December, he told the Times of India that the three farm laws would benefit the farmers. He has also written opinion pieces for the Indian Express, titled "Challenges to Farm Bills Harken Socialist Era, Attempt to undo Agriculture' 1991 Moment," and "We Need Laws that Give Farmers More Space to Sell Their Produce -- New Farm Laws Fit This Bill".

He has also served as member of the board of ICICI Banking Corporation and Agricultural Finance Corporation. He is currently the Infosys chair professor for agriculture at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations.

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Anil Ghanwat, farmer leader, Shetkari Sanghatana

Ghanwat is the president of the Maharashtra-based Shetkari Sanghatana. The organisation was founded by the famous farm leader Sharad Joshi.

The Shetkari Sangathana is among the prominent farmer organisations that is fully backing the government on the three farm laws. They were the first to announce that they will neither support nor participate in the ongoing protest. Along with the BKU (Mann), the members of the Shetkari Sangathana had met Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar last month to express their support for the laws.

¡°The government can stay implementation of the laws and amend them after discussions with farmers. However, there is no need to withdraw these laws, which have opened up opportunities for farmers,¡± Ghanwat had said in an article "Don¡¯t withdraw agri reform laws" he had written for Business Line.

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Bhupinder Singh Mann, farmer leader, BKU (Mann)

Mann is the national president of a splinter unit of the BKU that is known as BKU (Mann). He is an open supporter of Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and his faction of the BKU always supports him during elections.

In his letter to Agriculture Minister Tomar, Mann has backed the farm laws but said that they should be implemented with some amendments. He also wants a written assurance that the government will not do away with the Minimum Support Price ¡ª a key grievance of the protesting farmers.

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Meanwhile, farmers' groups have said they would not accept the committee or hold discussions with them. The committee, they said, included members in favour of the farm laws.

The committee will hold its first meeting on 22 January. After listening to both the farmers and the government, the committee will submit its report to the Supreme Court within two months from the date of its first sitting.