New Delhi Mar 21 PTI The Supreme Court-appointed panel was not in favour of total repeal of the three controversial farm laws and instead had suggested leaving procurement of crops at a specified price to the states and scrapping of Essential Commodities Act one of the three members of the panel said on Monday while releasing the committees report Pune-based farmer leader Anil Ghanwat said he had on three occasions written to the Supreme Court for releasing the report of the committee but in the absence of a response he was releasing it on his own According to him the committee has said that a repeal or a long suspension of these laws would be unfair to the silent majority who support the farm laws The panel favoured giving some flexibility in implementation and designs of the laws The bilateral interactions of the committee with the stakeholders demonstrated that only 133 per cent of the stakeholders were not in favour of the three laws Around 857 percent of the farmer organisations representing more than 33 crore farmers supported the laws The other two members -- economist Ashok Gulati and agri-economist Pramod Kumar Joshi -- were not present at a hurriedly called press conference here The panel had submitted its recommendations on the three farm laws which among other things allowed farmers to sell agri produce to private entities outside the government mandis on March 19 2021 The three farm laws were repealed by the Modi government in November last year ahead of assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab Addressing the press conference Ghanwat said the committee had also suggested many changes in the laws including giving freedom to states to make Minimum Support Price MSP system legal The panel had also suggested that the open-ended procurement policy should be discontinued and a model contract agreement should be formulated The report has no relevance now as the laws have been repealed but it would help in making policies for the agriculture sector in future said Ghanwat who is the President of Swatantra Bharat Party Besides feedback from those who made personal depositions the panel also received comments on the three laws through an online portal where around two-thirds of the respondents favoured the legislations The feedback received through e-mails also showed that a majority support the laws Ghanwat said 40 unions which had organised agitations against the laws under the banner of Samyukt Kisan Morcha SKM did not make any submission despite repeated requests On November 19 2021 Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the withdrawal of the three farm laws saying the government could not convince protesting farmers about the benefits of reforms The repealing of the three farm legislations -- Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce Promotion and Facilitation Act The Farmers Empowerment and Protection Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act and The Essential Commodities Amendment Act -- was one of the key demands of around 40 farmer unions protesting against these reforms at Delhi borders The protest started at the fag-end of November 2020 and ended after Parliament repealed the three laws The legislations had come into force in June 2020 through an ordinance and later they were cleared by Parliament in September 2020 Ultimately the laws were repealed in November 2021 although the Supreme Court had stayed the implementation of the legislations as well as ordered setting up of the panel in January 2021On the farmer unions demand to legalise the MSP system the panel said in its report that the demand was not based on sound logic and was infeasible to implement Any product that is produced needs to be traded at a viable price MSP is an indicative floor price to protect the farmers against any undue fall in prices especially at the time of harvest The government does not have the financial coffers to buy whatever is produced of all 23 commodities that are currently under the cover of MSP the report said The MSP and procurement support policy as was designed for cereals during the Green Revolution time needs to be revisited given that huge surpluses of wheat and rice have emerged For wheat and rice there has to be a cap on procurement which is commensurate to the needs of the Public Distribution System PDS The open-ended procurement policy needs to be discontinued as it is distorting the composition of agricultural output in certain states with its adjunct environmental consequences the report said The panel gave few options on how to proceed further looking at least ten years ahead One of the options that the committee deliberated upon is to allocate the current expenditure by the central government on procurement storage and PDS of wheat and rice across states based on an objective formula giving due weightage to production procurement and poverty The states should be given the freedom to devise their own approaches to support farmers and protect poor consumers in their respective states the report said The committee recommended that procurement of crops at a declared MSP can be the prerogative of the states as per their specific agricultural policy priorities The states can provide for a legal backing for such procurements at their own costs - as the recent Punjab Amendment Act does Kerala as an example has recently announced MSP for fruits and vegetables Some states also announce bonus on the MSP announced by the Centre it said Another option suggested by the panel was to give freedom of choice to beneficiaries of PDS to choose cash transfers equivalent to MSP 25 per cent for every kg of grain entitlement or get it in kind wheat or rice A concrete road map for gradual diversification from paddy to more sustainable high-value crops especially in Punjab-Haryana belt needs to be formulated the panel said Ghanwat said he would soon come out with a discussion paper on agricultural policy and would also organise a rally in Delhi of more than one lakh farmers in October in the national capital to push agri reforms PTI MJH ANZ RAM RAM

New Delhi Mar 21 PTI The Supreme Court-appointed panel was not in favour of total repeal of the three controversial farm laws and instead had suggested leaving procurement of crops at a specified price to the states and scrapping of Essential Commodities Act one of the three members of the panel said on Monday while releasing the committees report Pune-based farmer leader Anil Ghanwat said he had on three occasions written to the Supreme Court for releasing the report of the committee but in the absence of a response he was releasing it on his own The other two members -- economist Ashok Gulati and agri-economist Pramod Kumar Joshi -- were not present at a hurriedly called press conference here The panel had submitted its recommendations on the three farm laws which among other things allowed farmers to sell agri produce to private entities outside the government mandis on March 19 2021 The three farm laws were repealed by the Modi government in November last year ahead of assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab Addressing the press conference Ghanwat said the committee had also suggested many changes in the laws including giving freedom to states to make Minimum Support Price MSP system legal The panel had also suggested that the open-ended procurement policy should be discontinued and a model contract agreement should be formulated The report has no relevance now as the laws have been repealed but it would help in making policies for the agriculture sector in future said Ghanwat who is the President of Swatantra Bharat Party According to him the committee has said that a repeal or a long suspension of these laws would be unfair to the silent majority who support the farm laws The panel favoured giving some flexibility in implementation and designs of the laws The bilateral interactions of the committee with the stakeholders demonstrated that only 133 per cent of the stakeholders were not in favour of the three laws Around 857 percent of the farmer organisations representing more than 33 crore farmers supported the laws The feedback received through online portal established that around two-thirds of the respondents were in favour of the laws The feedback received through e-mails also showed that a majority support the laws Ghanwat said 40 unions which had organised agitations against the laws under the banner of Samyukt Kisan Morcha SKM did not make any submission despite repeated requests On November 19 2021 Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the withdrawal of the three farm laws saying the government could not convince protesting farmers about the benefits of reforms The repealing of the three farm legislations -- Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce Promotion and Facilitation Act The Farmers Empowerment and Protection Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act and The Essential Commodities Amendment Act -- was one of the key demands of around 40 farmer unions protesting against these reforms at Delhi borders The protest started at the fag-end of November 2020 and ended after Parliament repealed the three laws The legislations had come into force in June 2020 and was repealed in November 2021 On the farmer unions demand to legalise the MSP system the panel said in its report that the demand was not based on sound logic and was infeasible to implement Any product that is produced needs to be traded at a viable price MSP is an indicative floor price to protect the farmers against any undue fall in prices especially at the time of harvest The government does not have the financial coffers to buy whatever is produced of all 23 commodities that are currently under the cover of MSP the report said The MSP and procurement support policy as was designed for cereals during the Green Revolution time needs to be revisited given that huge surpluses of wheat and rice have emerged For wheat and rice there has to be a cap on procurement which is commensurate to the needs of the Public Distribution System PDS The open-ended procurement policy needs to be discontinued as it is distorting the composition of agricultural output in certain states with its adjunct environmental consequences the report said The panel gave few options on how to proceed further looking at least ten years ahead One of the options that the committee deliberated upon is to allocate the current expenditure by the central government on procurement storage and PDS of wheat and rice across states based on an objective formula giving due weightage to production procurement and poverty The states should be given the freedom to devise their own approaches to support farmers and protect poor consumers in their respective states the report said The committee recommended that procurement of crops at a declared MSP can be the prerogative of the states as per their specific agricultural policy priorities The states can provide for a legal backing for such procurements at their own costs - as the recent Punjab Amendment Act does Kerala as an example has recently announced MSP for fruits and vegetables Some states also announce bonus on the MSP announced by the Centre it said Another option suggested by the panel was to give freedom of choice to beneficiaries of PDS to choose cash transfers equivalent to MSP 25 per cent for every kg of grain entitlement or get it in kind wheat or rice A concrete road map for gradual diversification from paddy to more sustainable high-value crops especially in Punjab-Haryana belt needs to be formulated the panel said Ghanwat said he would soon come out with a discussion paper on agricultural policy and would also organise a rally in Delhi of more than one lakh farmers in October in the national capital to push agri reforms PTI MJH ANZ RAM

New Delhi Dec 26 PTI Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Sunday clarified that the government has no plans to bring back the recently repealed farm laws and urged farmers to be wary of confusion being created by the Congress on this issue Tomar in a statement said the three agriculture reforms laws were brought for the welfare of farmers However due to the farmers protest at Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to withdraw these laws The minister also mentioned that his statements on this issue made during his address at an agri event at Nagpur Maharashtra however been misinterpreted and said his intention was not that is being shown I had said at that event we have take a step back on the farm laws but the government will always move ahead to work towards the welfare of the farmers Therefore there should not be any misunderstanding on this issue and the government has no intention to bring back the farm laws again Tomar said The minister also hit out at the Congress party for indulging in a negative work of spreading confusion to cover up its failures and said farmers should be beware of this He also said that the Swaminathan Committee report that came in 2006 was not implemented by the Congress government In his address to the nation on November 19 Modi had announced withdrawal of the three controversial farm laws in a bid to end a year-long massive protest by farmers at borders of the national capital These laws were passed in Parliament in September 2020 but the Supreme Court had stayed their roll out in March 2021 and finally were repealed on November 29 by passing a bill due to mounting pressure from protesting farmers The three laws were The Farmers Empowerment and Protection Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020 The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce Promotion and Facilitation Act 2020 and The Essential Commodities Amendment Act 2020 PTI LUX MR MR

New Delhi Dec 26 PTI Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Sunday said the government has no plan to bring back the recently repealed farm laws and urged farmers to be wary of confusion being created by the Congress on this issue Tomar in a statement said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had decided to withdraw agriculture reform laws to protect the interest of farmers The government has no plan to bring the repealed agriculture laws again Congress is indulging in a negative work of spreading confusion to cover up its failures Tomar said and asked farmers to beware of this In his address to the nation on November 19 Modi had announced withdrawal of the three controversial farm laws in a bid to end a year-long massive protest by farmers at the borders of the national capital These laws were passed in Parliament in September 2020 but the Supreme Court had stayed their roll out in March 2021 and finally were repealed on November 29 by passing a bill due to mounting pressure from protesting farmers These three laws were The Farmers Empowerment and Protection Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020 The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce Promotion and Facilitation Act 2020 and The Essential Commodities Amendment Act 2020 PTI LUX MR MR

New Delhi: The cancellation of farm laws will be one of the prime talking points at the all-party meeting today that is likely to be helmed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a day before the beginning of the Winter Session of Parliament. The meeting – which will also likely see price rise issue and the farmers’ demand on legal guarantee on Minimum Support Prices being raised – is set to begin at 11 am.

Mumbai Nov 28 PTI Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Sunday demanded that the Centre bring a law to guarantee Minimum Support Price MSP for crops to protect the interest of farmers in the country In Mumbai to participate in the kisan mahapanchayat farmers mega conclave at the Azad Maidan under the Samyukta Shetkari Kamgar Morcha SSKM banner Tikait said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a supporter of the MSP when he was the chief minister of Gujarat and wanted a nationwide law to ensure farmers interests were guaranteed He accused the Modi-led central government of running away from a debate over the issue The Centre should bring a law to guarantee MSP to farmers There are several issues related to the agriculture and labour sectors that need attention and we will travel all over the country to highlight them he said Tikait also demanded that financial aid be given to the kin of farmers who died in the year-long protest against the Centres three agri marketing laws Earlier this month Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the governments decision to repeal the three farm laws which were at the centre of protests by farmers Many farmers were encamped at Delhis borders since November 2020 with a demand that the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce Promotion and Facilitation Act 2020 the Farmers Empowerment and Protection Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities Amendment Act 2020 be rolled back and a new law enacted to guarantee the MSP on crops The Centre which held several rounds of talks with the protesting farmers had maintained that the laws were pro-farmer while the protesters claimed they would be left at the mercy of corporations because of the legislations PTI MR BNM GK GK GK

New Delhi [India], November 27 (ANI): After Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar informed that the Centre has decriminalized stubble burning, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Haryana) president Gurnam Singh Chaduni said that those are mere words and nothing has been given in writing yet.

New Delhi [India], November 27 (ANI): Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Saturday informed that the Centre has decriminalized stubble burning as per the demand of the farmers' organizations.

New Delhi [India], November 27 (ANI): Ahead of the tractor march scheduled on November 29 when the Winter Session of Parliament is set to begin, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar urged the farmers to return home as their demands have been met and said, the "withdrawal of cases registered against the protestors and the issues of compensation comes under the jurisdiction of the state governments."

New Delhi [India], November 27 (ANI): Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Saturday urged the farmers protesting against three farm laws on different borders of Delhi to end their agitation and go home as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced to repeal these laws.