After meeting stakeholders of private mandis and State Agriculture Marketing Boards, the Supreme Court-appointed three-member panel on Tuesday held its deliberations with 18 industry bodies including Amul, ITC, Rice Miller Associations, Tractor Manufacture Association and exporter bodies, engaged in agriculture and its allied sectors and sought their comments on the three farm legislations. This is the sixth meeting the panel has held so far.
The meeting was held both virtually and in person on Tuesday. The committee members will hold talks with state governments’ representatives on February 11. The committee will also take view points from professionals and academicians on the issue.
Sources said that industrial bodies including Agro Processing Industries, Food Processing industries and the agencies, dairy sector, rice miller association engaged in the agriculture sector hailed the three farm laws during their discussions and also suggested some points. The committee members have requested the participants to give their views on the three farm laws.
“In total 18 different stakeholder organisations’ such as Amul, ITC, FCI, Sugna Foods, Horticulture Produce Exporters’ Association, Venkateshwara Hatcheries, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry ( FICCI ), Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Seafood Exporters Association, India Rice Miller Association, All India Rice Exporters Association, Tractor Manufacture Association, Cotton Association of India, Fertiliser Association of India, India Pulses and Grain Association of India and All India Poultry Feed Association of India participated through Video Conferencing in the detailed deliberations with the committee members over the farm laws,” the ministry of agriculture said.
“Representatives of the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) participated in the meeting in person. All the stakeholder participants gave their detailed views and valuable suggestions on the three farm laws,” the committee said in a statement.
During the previous meeting held on Friday, the committee held consultations with the heads of state marketing boards, private mandi operators and food parks from 10 states including those of Kerala. The committee has also sought comments from all stakeholders through online in its website.
The three-member committee appointed by the Supreme Court has been holding consultations with stakeholders both, online and in-person and this was the fifth meeting of the panel so far. The Supreme Court had set up the four-member panel on January 11, but one of them, Bhupinder Singh Mann, recused himself later after questions were raised by the agitating farmer unions about the views expressed by all members in the past in support of the contentious laws, against which thousands are protesting on Delhi borders for almost two months now.