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The 2020–2021 Indian farmers’ protest was a protest against three farm acts that were passed by the Parliament of India in September 2020. The acts, often called the Farm Bills, had been described as “anti-farmer laws” by many farmer unions, and politicians from the opposition who said that it would leave farmers at the “mercy of corporates” since the farmer-trader disputes were taken to SDM instead of judiciary. The protests demanded the creation of a minimum support price (MSP) bill, to ensure that corporates cannot control the prices. The Union Government, however, maintained that the laws would make it effortless for farmers to sell their produce directly to big buyers, and stated that the protests are based on misinformation. Related endemic legacy issues include farmer suicides and low farmer incomes. Despite India being largely self-sufficient in foodgrain production and having welfare schemes, hunger and nutrition remain serious issues, with India ranking as one of the worst countries in the world in food security parameters. Due to unfulfilled previous demands 2024 Indian farmers’ protest started on 13 of February 2024.
Soon after the acts were introduced, unions began holding local protests, mostly in Punjab state. After two months of protests, farmer unions—mainly from Punjab and neighbouring Haryana—began a movement named Dilli Chalo (transl. Let’s go to Delhi), in which tens of thousands of union members marched towards the nation’s capital. The Indian government ordered the police and law enforcement of various states to stop the protesters using water cannons, batons, and tear gas to prevent them entering Haryana and then Delhi. November 2020 saw a nationwide general strike in support of the farmers and thousands converging at various border points on the way to Delhi. Eleven rounds of talks took place between the central government and farmers represented by the farm unions between 14 October 2020 and 22 January 2021; all were inconclusive with agreement on only two relatively minor points. Smaller but richer states of Haryana and Punjab, with large surplus food production, are the massive provider of food security to India as they provide 70-90% of wheat and 28-44% of rice of India’s total PDS. Hence, farm reform is more sensitive issue in these food surplus states as compared to other nett food consumer states with negative food security such as BIMARU states.
While a section of farmer unions were protesting, the Indian government claimed that some unions had come out in support of the farm laws. By mid December 2020, the Supreme Court of India had received a batch of petitions asking for the removal of blockades created by the protesters around Delhi. Farmers said that they will not listen to the courts if told to back off, and that staying the implementation of the farm laws was not a solution. This was also the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, in light of which the central government had put in place a nation-wide lockdown. A section of the farmers, however, interpreted this move of pandemic governance too convenient. Ultimately, the social distancing mandates came to be seen as the state’s resistance to disband the farmers which in turn consolidated the protests. The farmers camped at the borders, settled in and built a home on the highways blocking inter-state mobility until the government finally repealed the farm laws after a year.
The Supreme Court of India stayed the implementation of the farm laws in January 2021. Farmer leaders welcomed the stay order, which remained in effect until they were eventually repealed. A Supreme Court appointed committee submitted its confidential report before the court on 19 March 2021. Six state governments (Kerala, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Delhi and West Bengal) passed resolutions against the farms acts, and three states (Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan) have tabled counter-legislation in their respective state assemblies. None of the counter-legislation were signed into law by the respective state governors.
The protests were often criticized by the Indian government to be a foreign conspiracy. In a statement to Supreme Court, the government stated that the protests have been infiltrated by Khalistanis. On 26 January 2021, India’s Republic Day, tens of thousands of the farmers held a farmer’s parade with a large convoy of tractors and drove into Delhi. The protesters deviated from the pre-sanctioned routes permitted by the Delhi Police resulting in violence and clashes with the police. Later, protesters reached Red Fort and installed farmer union flags and Sikh religious flags on the mast on the rampart of the Red Fort.
On 19 November 2021, the union government decided to repeal the bills, and both houses of Parliament passed the Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021 on 29 November. Following the announcement of the repeal, farmer unions continued with the demand for guaranteed minimum support prices (MSPs), reminding the government of the aim of doubling farmers’ income by 2022; and the 2004 M. S. Swaminathan–headed National Commission on Farmers reports. The Supreme Court appointed committee report was released by a committee member on 21 March 2022.