in india the supreme court has
temporarily halted the implementation of
controversial new agricultural laws that
have led to widespread protests from
farmers
the chief justice says that the court
will form a committee to hear their
grievances against the laws
tens of thousands of farmers have been
camped out on the outskirts of delhi for
more than a month
they say the laws benefit large private
buyers at the expense of producers
nearly 60 percent of india's population
depends on agriculture for their
livelihoods
correspondent meniere chowdhury is
standing by with the view from delhi so
manira what more can you tell us about
the court's decision
well before this decision came in there
were eight rounds of conversations and
negotiations between the government and
the farmer groups which ended up in
deadlock there was no
outcome that was reached now the supreme
court the top coat of the country has
decided to put a temporary hold on the
implementation of these laws
in an attempt to find a solution the
supreme court had also previously
expressed
disappointment with the government uh by
the way
the government handled this crisis now
the court has formed a four-member
committee of agricultural expert in an
effort
in an attempt to find a solution to this
deadlock what was so controversial about
the laws
well these three laws that the
government was trying to bring in
according to the government were really
good for the farmers
according to the government these laws
would have allowed the farmers to
produce their mark uh their to market
their produce more freely
would have given them more opportunities
to earn more and profit more
and they also said that these laws would
actually lead to better infrastructure
and
a better infrastructure in agriculture
because of the increased private
investment
but that's exactly what the farmers are
worried about the increase in private
investment the increase in private
players
and also their biggest concern has been
about the minimum support price which we
call the msp system here which is
essentially a minimum assured income
that the farmers get
from the government agencies when they
directly buy their produce from the
farmers
and these laws according to the farmers
would create a situation in which the
government agencies would buy less and
less
hence making the minimum support price
system irrelevant
okay so given all of that what are now
the next steps in this process and what
is the reaction likely to be
well the early reactions which have come
from the farmers are yes that they are
seeing it as a positive development
uh but they're not giving up as they say
they are pretty determined that they
will not leave the site of protests
unless they see the three
farm laws permanently repealed meniere
chowdhury joining us from delhi thank
you