85.7% of farmer organisations supported now-repealed laws, reveals SC-appointed panel

Anil Ghanwat, one of the panel's three members, stated that the panel member stated that the committee had proposed leaving agricultural procurement at a fixed price to the states and repealing the Essential Commodities Act.

The Supreme Court-appointed three-member committee was not in favour of wholesale repeal of the three contentious agricultural laws, and 85.7% of farmer organisations backed the Acts. Anil Ghanwat, one of the panel's three members, stated when publishing the panel's findings. The panel member stated that the committee has proposed leaving agricultural procurement at a fixed price to the states and repealing the Essential Commodities Act.

Ghanwat stated that the group appointed by the Supreme Court favoured granting some freedom in the implementation and designs of the three laws, stating that "repeal or a protracted suspension of these laws would be unjust to the silent majority who support the agricultural legislation." He stated that 85.7 percent of farmer organisations supported the agriculture legislation, while just 13.3 percent of stakeholders opposed the three laws that were abolished.

Anil Ghanwat, a farmer leader, told a news conference that he had asked the Supreme Court to publicise the panel's conclusions but had not gotten a response and was thus doing so on his own.

In September 2020, the Modi administration enacted three agriculture bills: the Farmer's 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. Thousands of farmers, primarily from Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh, have been protesting the agricultural regulations for over a year.

PM Narendra Modi has stated that the three agriculture laws would be repealed by the national government in November 2021. Following the declaration of the Prime Minister, the federal government abolished the three Acts.