2020 Indian agriculture acts
The Indian agriculture acts of 2020, often termed the Farm Bills, 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. The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, gave his assent on 27 September 2020.
| Parliament of India | |
|---|---|
| Passed |
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| Enacted | 20 September 2020 |
| Assented to | 27 September 2020 |
| Signed by | Ram Nath Kovind, President of India |
| Signed | 27 September 2020 |
| Commenced | 27 September 2020 as a law of Republic of India, reported to public through Gazette of India. |
| Repealed | 1 December 2021 |
| Administered by |
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| Legislative history | |
| Introduced | 5 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| Implementation stayed by Supreme Court on 12 January 2021, and formally repealed by the Government on 1 December 2021.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| Status: Repealed | |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 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. 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. 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. On 1 December 2021, the laws were formally repealed. The Supreme Court appointed committee report was made public on 21 March 2022.