2020 Indian agriculture acts
The Indian agriculture acts of 2020, often termed the Farm Bills,[1][2] were three acts initiated by the Parliament of India in September 2020. The Lok Sabha approved the bills on 17 September 2020 and the Rajya Sabha on 20 September 2020.[3] The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, gave his assent on 27 September 2020.[4]
Parliament of India
- 17 September 2020 in Lok Sabha through Majority
- 20 September 2020 in Rajya Sabha through Voice Vote
20 September 2020
27 September 2020
27 September 2020
27 September 2020 as a law of Republic of India, reported to public through Gazette of India.
1 December 2021
5 June 2020 (three bills)
The laws would have deregulated a system of government-run wholesale markets, allowing farmers to sell directly to food processors, but farmers feared that this would result in the end of government-guaranteed price floors, thereby reducing the prices they would receive for their crops.[5][6] This inspired protests against the new acts.
On 12 January 2021, the Supreme Court stayed the implementation of the farm laws and appointed a committee to look into farmer grievances related to the farm laws.[7][8] In a televised address on 19 November 2021, Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, announced that his government would repeal the laws in the upcoming parliamentary session in December.[9][10][11][12] On 1 December 2021, the laws were formally repealed.[13] The Supreme Court appointed committee report was made public on 21 March 2022.[14]
Reactions[edit]
Government Response[edit]
On 20 September 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to the bills as a watershed moment in the history of Indian agriculture and stated the bills will "ensure a complete transformation of the agriculture sector" and empower tens of millions of farmers.[37] In the Prime Minister's Mann ki Baat radio address on 29 November 2020, he said that "all political parties had been making promises to the farmers but now these promises had been fulfilled."[38][39]
Several Union Ministers urged farmers not to have misconceptions about the reforms.[40][41] Rejecting demands for the inclusion of Minimum Support Price (MSP) as a mandatory provision in the Farm Bills, Narendra Singh Tomar, the Minister of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare said that, while the government was committed to MSP, it was "not a part of the law" earlier and "is not" today.[42]
Modi announced on 19 November 2021 that his government will repeal the three bills once the new session of Parliament started later that month. "I urge the protesting farmers to return home to their families, and let's start afresh." Modi stated in a televised address.[43][44][45]