Farmers' protests (2020-21)
Topic: Civil Society, Pressure Groups, NGOs and Self-help Groups · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The farmers' protests of 2020-21 were long sit-ins at Delhi's borders against three farm laws passed in September 2020. They were led by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, a coalition of about 40 farmers' unions, and began on 26 November 2020. The Supreme Court stayed the laws (put them on hold) on 12 January 2021. Parliament then passed the Farm Laws Repeal Act on 29 November 2021. The protests are a key case in the debate on street pressure versus parliamentary sovereignty, meaning Parliament's final power to make law.
Example
The farm laws first came as ordinances, which are temporary laws made by the executive. No parliamentary committee examined them closely, and agriculture is a State subject. After about a year of protest the laws were repealed. The demand for a legal guarantee of MSP (minimum support price) continues, and protests were renewed in 2024.
Don't confuse with
- India Against Corruption movement (2011): it pushed Parliament to pass a new law, the Lokpal Act. The farmers' protests forced Parliament to repeal laws it had already passed.