Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, who spearheaded the 2021 Agricultural Repeal Bill, gave several reasons for the legislative decision. In an explanatory memorandum that is part of the bill, Tomar said: « Although only a group of farmers are protesting against these laws, the government has made an effort to raise farmers` awareness of the importance of agricultural laws and explain the benefits through several meetings and other forums. » « All I did was for farmers, » the prime minister said. « What I`m doing is for the country. » « This is a victory for farmers. We are happy that the laws have been repealed, » Harinder Happy, spokesman for Samyukt Kisan Morcha, a coalition of more than 40 farmers` unions, told Al Jazeera. An opposition MP, Palaniappan Chidambaram, said in a tweet: « The Prime Minister`s announcement of the withdrawal of the three agricultural laws is not inspired by a change in policy or a change in mind. It is motivated by fear of elections! The three Acts are the Agricultural Trade (Promotion and Facilitation) Act; the Agricultural Price Insurance and Services (Empowerment and Protection) for Farmers Act; Farmers feared that the laws would signal that the government was moving away from a system in which an overwhelming majority of farmers only sold at state-approved markets. Peasants are the most influential voting bloc in India and politicians have long considered it unwise to alienate them. They are also particularly important to Modi`s Bharatiya Janata party, but have been in turmoil since the laws were passed in September last year. Tens of thousands of farmers have been camping on the outskirts of the capital New Delhi for more than a year – one of the biggest challenges facing Modi`s Hindu nationalist government since taking office in 2014. Together with other UN experts, the Special Rapporteur discussed with the government the potential of laws to interfere with the right to food and severe restrictions during protests. The journey of three land laws began on June 5, 2020, when the President of India promulgated three ordinances – Essential Goods (Amendment) Ordinance 2020; the Agricultural Trade (Promotion and Facilitation) Regulations, 2020; and the 2020 Agreement on Price Stabilization and Agricultural Services for Farmers (Authorization and Protection).

These regulations were then replaced by corresponding legislation in September 2020. However, the implementation of three agricultural laws was suspended by the Supreme Court on January 12, 2021. These laws were therefore in force for only 221 days. Farmers` groups have said they will continue to protest until the laws are officially withdrawn during the parliamentary session, which is due to begin in December. Since the laws were passed last year, farmers in the suburbs of New Delhi have weathered a harsh winter and a devastating wave of coronavirus. There have also been nationwide protests against the laws. In India, agriculture is a political issue and the protests have been a rare challenge for the BJP. On November 19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in a televised address to the nation that the government would repeal the laws because it could not convince some farmers of the merits of the new agricultural laws. Happy said farmers would not break their protest and are now pushing for other demands, including minimum support prices (MSPs) for crops and compensation for the families of hundreds of farmers they say died during the protests. Modi had passed the three land laws in 2020 to reform India`s archaic agricultural sector by reducing agricultural subsidies and crop price regulation.

The agricultural sector still employs about 60% of India`s workforce, but it is riddled with problems such as poverty, debt and inefficiency. On Friday, peasant leader Rakesh Tikait said farmers would still not disperse their protest camps and rallies until the act of repealing the laws was completed in parliament. He also pointed out that last year, more than 700 farmers were killed during protests against agricultural laws. In their first session of the winter session on Monday, both houses of parliament rushed to pass a bill to abolish laws amid opposition protests, which called for a discussion on the issue. The controversial laws prompted tens of thousands of people, including many elderly farmers, to brave extreme weather and a severe second wave of coronavirus infections to camp in the suburbs of New Delhi last year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s government introduced the agricultural laws last year through a decree traditionally reserved for emergency laws, prompting the longest-running protest from Indian farmers. Parliament then passed the bill by vote, drawing widespread criticism for ramming the bill through without proper debate. In a major victory for Indian farmers, who had fought hard to repeal the so-called « black laws, » the prime minister announced in a speech Friday morning that « we have withdrawn the laws. » Parliament passes a law to repeal controversial laws that have led to years of unrest by tens of thousands of farmers. Amarinder Singh, former prime minister of the state of Punjab, where many protesting farmers live, tweeted: « Grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. to meet the demands of all Punjabi. » The government made concerted efforts last year to crush the farmers` protest movement.

Farmers and activists were arrested and police repeatedly threatened to clean up protest camps around Delhi before briefly barricading farmers with concrete barriers and spikes. Those who led the protests were regularly branded as terrorists and anti-nationalists conspiring against India. The government currently buys rice and wheat at minimum support prices set by the government, but the subsidies only benefit about 6% of India`s millions of farmers. The Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021 seeks to repeal the three farm laws – the Farmers` Agricultural Price Insurance and Services Agreement (Empowerment and Protection) Act, 2020, the Farm Trade (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Essential Products (Amendment) Act, 2020 – and the Essential Products Act 1955 Amendment. The bill became necessary after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the government`s intention to repeal the three laws on November 19 amid continued protests by farmers against the laws. Two days after the Prime Minister`s announcement, the Union Cabinet approved the bill. Now the bill has been introduced in Lok Sabha. The Lok Sabha passed the Agricultural Laws Repeal Bill on Monday 2021 without discussion.

The bill, which seeks to repeal three farm laws, was introduced in the House by Union Agriculture and Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. « In the end, all our hard work paid off. I salute the peasant brothers who were martyred in this battle, » Tikaita said. Modi`s party already governs Uttar Pradesh, but is under immense pressure for its response to the pandemic and struggling economy. If farmers leave his party during the elections, it will not only diminish their chances of forming the state government for a second term, but will also weaken their chances of winning an overwhelming majority in the 2024 national elections. But protesting farmers said the laws would lead to a takeover of the huge agricultural sector, which is India`s main livelihood and about 70 percent of rural households depend on it. Both states have large peasant populations, particularly Punjab. Indian farmers forced Modi to abandon new laws. So why don`t they go home? The Modi government has said the laws are necessary reforms to modernize Indian agriculture.

However, farmers feared that the government`s decision to introduce market reforms in agriculture would impoverish them. For more than a year, farmers camped out on the outskirts of the Indian capital to protest the laws, arguing that market forces would further drive prices down and that small farmers would struggle to negotiate cheap deals with corporate giants. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has called on authorities and protesters in India to « exercise maximum restraint » in the face of ongoing farmers` protests. Narendra Modi has announced he will repeal three controversial land laws that have sparked a year of protests and unrest in India, in one of his government`s most important concessions. The three agricultural laws aimed at deregulating the market were passed in 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. If farmers leave the ruling party, not only will the prospects of forming a state government for a second term diminish, but the party`s chances of winning an overwhelming majority in the 2024 national elections will also be weakened. While Modi insisted in his speech that the laws were necessary reforms, he acknowledged that they were not feasible in the face of fierce opposition from farmers. « I appeal to all farmers who are participating in the protest. To return now to your home, to your loved ones, your farms and your family.