Farmers Movement Archive

Policy must cater to both sides, says Ghanwat on eve of panel’s first meet

NEW DELHI: A day before the Supreme Court-appointed committee holds its first meeting to discuss modalities to carry forward consultations with farmers, one of the members, Anil Ghanwat of Shetkari Sanghatana, on Monday said a policy could be designed in such a way that those who want freedom (to sell outside regulated markets) should get it and those who want support (price and otherwise) should get what they want. “We can come together, sit together and discuss what farmers want. We can deliver what they want. Policy can be designed to accommodate the wishes of both sides,” he told TOI in a conversation on how to take forward the process when the unions opposed to the laws have said they will not appear before the panel. The committee members will meet among themselves on Tuesday and will start consultations with farmers’ representatives from January 21. Meanwhile, the 10th round of talks between the Centre and the unions, scheduled for Tuesday, has been postponed to Wednesday. Though the SC-appointed panel’s consultations, to begin with, will involve those farmers who want to discuss the issue with it, Ghanwat did not rule out the possibility of reaching out to the protesting farmers at their biggest protest site. “We’ll keep inviting them (unions opposed to the laws). If they continue to maintain their stand of not appearing before the panel, we may even try to reach out to them at Singhu border as we sincerely want their suggestions,” he said. Agriculture agri economists and policy experts Ashok Gulati and P K Joshi are the other two members of the panel. The fourth, Bhartiya Kisan Union chief and ex-Rajya Sabha member Bhupinder Singh Mann, opted out of the panel. Besides meeting farmers, the panel will also hold discussions with traders, exporters, millers and other stakeholders before finalising its report, Ghanwat said. Ghanwat’s remarks showing flexibility in the panel’s approach assume significance, given the stalemate where both the government and the unions have refused to budge. While the government has made it amply clear that repeal of the laws was not on the table, farmers’ leaders want nothing less than repeal. The talks on Wednesday will be held in the backdrop of the unions’ criticism of the Centre over notices by the NIA to those who have been supporting the farmers’ movement.

The Times of India

2021-01-19

India