Three farm laws passed

Who: The Union government under Narendra Modi, with Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar; Parliament; and farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Harsimrat Kaur Badal of the Shiromani Akali Dal resigned as a Union minister in protest.

What: On 5 June 2020 the government issued three ordinances on farm trade, contract farming and essential commodities. In September the bills that replaced them were introduced in the Lok Sabha (14 September):

• The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill allowed trade in farm produce outside APMC mandis and barred states from charging a market fee on it.
• The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill set up a contract farming framework, with disputes going to a conciliation board and then the Sub-Divisional Magistrate.
• The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill allowed supply of cereals, pulses, potatoes, onions and edible oilseeds and oils to be regulated only in extraordinary circumstances.

The Lok Sabha passed the Essential Commodities Bill on 15 September and the other two on 17 September. The Rajya Sabha passed the two farm bills on Sunday 20 September by voice vote amid uproar: opposition members crowded into the well, Derek O'Brien said members had been denied a vote, and at least 13 opposition parties, which opposed the bills or had misgivings, asked for a select committee. It passed the Essential Commodities Bill on 22 September. Wikipedia, citing Mint and Hindustan Times, gives 27 September 2020 as the date of the President's assent.

Where: Parliament, New Delhi. The anger was strongest in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Why it mattered: Modi called the passage a watershed moment for agriculture. Tomar said the laws were unrelated to MSP, and that "MSP was there, is there and will be there". Farmers in the grain-bowl states feared a corporate takeover and the loss of the minimum support price, according to Al Jazeera, and opposition leaders shared the fear about MSP. Harsimrat Kaur Badal resigned after the Lok Sabha vote. Farmers in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh protested on the roads, train services in Punjab were suspended from 3 October when farmers began an indefinite rail roko, and from 26 November 2020 the farmers camped at Delhi's borders. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha says about 715 farmers died during the year. Parliament passed the repeal bill on 29 November 2021.