"File An RTI": Court-Appointed Panel Member On Gap In Farm Law Report

The report had contended that 86 per cent of the farmers they interviewed were not against the laws.

Farmer leader Anil Ghanwat -- one of the three members of the Supreme Court appointed committee on farm laws who made their final report public yesterday -- has brushed off the criticism that they had only interviewed farmers who were in favour of the contentious laws. He also told NDTV he did not have the names of the organisations interviewed and suggested that an RTI can be filed to access the list.

At a press conference yesterday, the Pune-based farmer leader said he had written to the Supreme Court on three occasions, asking that the report be released, 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 the press conference.

The report had contended that 86 per cent of the farmers they interviewed were not against the laws. The details of the 61 organisations the committee interviewed were also not part of the report -- Mr Ghanwat said it was to "keep it short".

Asked if those details of the respondents can be shared with the media, Anil Ghanwat told NDTV today, "They are available with the Supreme Court and they can share it later". When pressed, he added, "I do not know who is in possession of that data. He can go ahead and release it too. You can demand it under the RTI (Right to Information Act)".