2020 Indian agriculture acts

Parliament of India
Passed
Enacted20 September 2020
Assented to27 September 2020
Signed byRam Nath Kovind, President of India
Signed27 September 2020
Commenced27 September 2020 as a law of Republic of India, reported to public through Gazette of India.
Repealed1 December 2021
Administered by
Legislative history
Introduced5 June 2020 (three bills)
Repeals
Implementation stayed by Supreme Court on 12 January 2021, and formally repealed by the Government on 1 December 2021.
Summary
The three acts had provided for the creation of an ecosystem for farmers and traders, for a national framework on farming agreements and further to amend the Essential Commodities Act, 1955
Status: Repealed

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 then President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, gave his assent on 27 September 2020.[4]

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the laws in the upcoming parliamentary session in December.[9][10][11][12] On 1 December 2021, the laws were formally repealed.[13] The Supreme Court appointed committee report was made public on 21 March 2022.[14]

  1. ^ "Farm bills: Are India's new reforms a 'death warrant' for farmers?". BBC News. 23 September 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  2. ^ "Farm Bills have potential to represent significant step forward for agriculture reforms in India: IMF". The Hindu. PTI. 15 January 2021. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  3. ^ "Parliament passes The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement and Farm Services Bill, 2020". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  4. ^ "President Kovind gives his assent for 3 farm bills passed by Parliament". mint. 27 September 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  5. ^ Spindle, Bill; Agarwal, Vibhuti (13 October 2020). "India Turns to Economic Overhaul as Growth Prospects Slide Amid Coronavirus - Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party pushes through changes to farming and labor regulations". The Wall Street Journal. In a single swoop, it dismantled a longstanding regulatory system that forced farmers to sell most of their crops through government-approved wholesale markets dominated by traders and middlemen instead of directly to consumers or food processors. The new laws, for example, allow for the first time for many crops to be stored and sold later, eliminating restrictions that contributed to the spoilage of as much as one-third of some crops. ... Government-approved wholesale markets have largely shut or slowed sales as the traders and middlemen who dominate them protest against the prospect of new competition. Small farmers, who suddenly have no place to sell their products until other buyers step up, have also erupted in protest. They fear the government will eventually phase out a system of guaranteed price floors for some crops, leaving them little leverage in dealing directly with large-scale buyers.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference WSJ_2021-11-19 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Supreme Court Stays Implementation of Farm Laws, Sets Up Committee for Talks". The Wire. 12 January 2021. Archived from the original on 12 January 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  8. ^ "Farm laws: SC irked over criticism of court-appointed committee members". Hindustan Times. 20 January 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  9. ^ "India's Modi backs down on farm reforms in surprise victory for protesters". Reuters. 19 November 2021. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  10. ^ Saaliq, Sheikh (19 November 2021). "India to repeal controversial farm laws that led to protests". AP News. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  11. ^ "Three farm laws to be rolled back, says PM Modi, urges farmers to leave protest sites". India Today. 19 November 2021. Archived from the original on 19 November 2021. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  12. ^ "कृषि कानून रद्द: PM मोदी के ऐलान के बाद कितने बदलेंगे पश्चिमी UP के सियासी समीकरण". Aaj Tak (in Hindi). 19 November 2021. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  13. ^ Suri, Manveena; Mogul, Rhea (2 December 2021). "India formally repeals controversial farm laws after year of protests". CNN. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  14. ^ "SC-appointed panel was against repealing three farm laws". The Economic Times. PTI. 21 March 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.