SC-constituted panel discusses agrarian reforms

A Supreme Court-appointed High Powered Committee on Agrarian Reforms on Thursday examined Kerala’s fruits and vegetables support programme and the concept of the state’s Farmers’ Debt Relief Commission here.

The commision is the body through which the government repays verified farm loans through cooperative societies. The development took place in the backdrop of high rural indebtedness in both Punjab and Haryana. Farmers of both states have been demanding a legal guarantee ensuring minimum support price for crops.

The committee, headed by former judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court Justice Nawab Singh, met a delegation from Kerala, led by state Agriculture Minister P Prasad.

The panel was apprised of the agrarian reforms and pro-farmer initiatives taken by the Kerala Government.

According to information available with The Tribune, the Kerala Government delegation suggested a legal guarantee for MSP for all crops and wanted that the annual outlay for agriculture in the Union Budget be a minimum of 5per cent of the total outlay.

All member of the committee – Devinder Sharma, agricultural scientist; BS Sandhu, former DGP Haryana; Dr R S Ghuman, economist; Dr Sukhpal Singh, chairperson, Punjab Farmers and Farm Workers Commission; and Dr Amit Kumar Agrawal, member-secretary; were present in the meeting.

This panel was constituted by a Supreme Court Bench headed by Justice Surya Kant to recommend comprehensive reforms in the agrarian sector with the aim of improving farmer welfare.

In his presentation, the visiting minister said that Kerala was the only state which had constituted relief commission for farmers, wherein the government repaid verified farm loans via cooperative societies.

The debt relief is for the farmers whose main income is from agriculture, has not more than Rs 2 lakh as his annual income and who do not possess more than four acres of land.

So far, the commission had disposed 6.03 lakh applications benefitting 2.16 lakh indebted farmers, he said.

The minister said that the need of the hour was to constitute a national debt relief commission.

Talking about Kerala’s unique fruits and vegetables support programme, the agriculture minister said the state provided a base price support of 20 per cent profit over the cost of production to ensure price stability for 16 vegetables and fruits.

This scheme was launched in November 2020, and has benefitted four lakh farmers.

Punjab