India’s Farmers’ Protest: The 378-Day Fight That Repealed 3 Farm Laws

Talks resume, then police clear the Punjab border camps Aftermath and counts

Union ministers held three rounds of talks with the protesting farmer groups in Chandigarh, on 14 February, 22 February and 19 March 2025. Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan led the central side, with Pralhad Joshi and, in March, Piyush Goyal; Punjab minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian and farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal attended. Chouhan called the 19 March talks constructive and set a next round for 4 May (All India Radio). The unions kept pressing for a legal MSP guarantee.

On 19 and 20 March, after the talks, Punjab Police detained farmer leaders including Dallewal, removed the camps and vehicles at Shambhu and Khanauri, and Haryana removed its barricades, reopening the highway after about 13 months (All India Radio). Dallewal had been on a hunger strike since 26 November 2024; the Punjab government told the Supreme Court on 28 March that he had broken his fast (LiveLaw), while other reports date the formal end to a mahapanchayat in early April (Deccan Chronicle). AiTimeline did not verify the outcome of the May talks.

The Supreme Court sets up a committee for the Shambhu standoff Court step

Hearing Haryana’s challenge to a High Court order to remove its blockade at the Shambhu border, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan on 2 September 2024 set up a five-member committee headed by former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Nawab Singh to talk to the protesting farmers. It asked the panel to persuade farmers to move tractors and trolleys off the national highway, and said the protest should not be politicised (LiveLaw, The Wire).

The farmers’ listed demands included a legal MSP guarantee, the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations, pensions, a debt waiver and compensation for families of farmers who died in 2020-21. The committee was a mediation route, not a ruling on the demands.

Farmers march again for a legal MSP guarantee Aftermath and counts

On 13 February 2024 farmers under the banner of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha began a new “Delhi Chalo” march and were stopped at the Punjab-Haryana border points of Shambhu and Khanauri. Their demands included a legal guarantee for the minimum support price and a farm-loan waiver (Deccan Herald). On 18 February a panel of Union ministers offered to have government agencies buy pulses, maize and cotton at MSP for five years; the farmer leaders rejected the offer.

On 21 February a 21-year-old protester, Shubhkaran Singh, died at Khanauri. Haryana police said protesters attacked security personnel with stones and sticks, while farmers said rubber bullets were fired; the Samyukta Kisan Morcha blamed the Centre (Scroll). Punjab Police registered a murder case about a week later, and on 7 March 2024 the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered a judicial probe into his death (PTI via Udayavani). AiTimeline did not verify the outcome.

Keep it separate: the 2024 march was called by different groups. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha that led the 2020-21 protest was not part of the call, though it extended support.

The government notifies a committee on MSP and natural farming Aftermath and counts

The Agriculture Ministry’s gazette notification of 12 July 2022 named Sanjay Agrawal, a former Agriculture Secretary, as chairman of the committee the Prime Minister had announced in November 2021. It was to promote zero-budget farming, change crop patterns and make MSP “more effective and transparent”. News reports of its formation appeared on 18 and 19 July (Down To Earth, The Quint).

The notification reserved three seats for the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, marked “names to be added”. The SKM rejected the panel, saying farmer leaders who had backed the laws had been named to it (The Wire). In the sources AiTimeline checked, no statutory MSP guarantee had been enacted.

A committee member releases the Supreme Court panel’s report Court step

Anil Ghanwat, a member of the four-person committee, released its report on 21 March 2022, saying he had written to the Supreme Court three times without a response. The report says the committee could interact directly with 73 farmer organisations: 61, representing more than 3 crore farmers, supported the laws; 4, representing 51 lakh farmers, opposed them; and 7 supported them with changes (Verdictum). The report gives the share as 85.7 percent; 61 of 73 works out to about 84 percent.

The committee was against total repeal. It suggested letting states make MSP legal, leaving procurement at a specified price to the states and ending open-ended procurement, scrapping the Essential Commodities Act and drafting a model contract agreement (The Tribune). The SKM called the report “fake, plain bogus and trashy”, and Yogendra Yadav said most of its online responses came from non-farmers (The Tribune). The unions leading the protest had not taken part in its sessions.

Read it with care: these are the committee’s own findings from the groups that chose to meet it. They are not a survey of all farmers, and they came after Parliament had already repealed the laws.

The farmers suspend the agitation after a letter from the Centre Talks or settlement

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella of about 40 unions, decided on 9 December 2021 to suspend the movement after receiving a letter from the Centre. The letter, from Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agrawal, said a committee on MSP would include officials, farmer representatives, including from the SKM, and agriculture scientists, and that the status quo on MSP procurement would continue. It said Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana had agreed to withdraw cases against protesters, and that Haryana and Uttar Pradesh had given in-principle approval to compensation for families of farmers who died (Down To Earth).

Farmers began leaving the Delhi borders from 11 December. Counting by date, 26 November 2020 to 9 December 2021 is 378 days; to 11 December it is 380, so the “length of the protest” depends on the end date you choose (The Indian Express). In January 2022 the SKM said the promises had not been kept (Down To Earth); AiTimeline did not verify how many cases were later withdrawn.

The government says it has no record of protest deaths Aftermath and counts

In a written reply, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar told the Lok Sabha that the ministry had “no record” of farmers who died during the protests, so the question of compensation “does not arise” (The Week; The Wire dates the reply to 1 December, The Wire). The ministry gave a similar answer in the Monsoon Session.

Farmer organisations gave much higher numbers: the SKM said nearly 700 on 19 November 2021, and leader Rakesh Tikait later spoke of about 750; the Wikipedia infobox gives 789 (Wikipedia). These are union and compiled figures that AiTimeline could not verify, and the government’s reply is about what its ministry held on record, not a count of its own.

Parliament repeals the three laws Parliament or government

The Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021 was introduced and passed by the Lok Sabha on 29 November 2021 and passed by the Rajya Sabha the same day (PRS). Bar and Bench reported that the Lok Sabha passed it by voice vote, without discussion, within eight minutes of its introduction, and that the Rajya Sabha also passed it without discussion (Bar and Bench). The President’s assent is dated 30 November, and it was gazetted on 1 December (India Code).

The Act repeals the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act (Act 20 of 2020), the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act (Act 21 of 2020) and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act (Act 22 of 2020), and omits sub-section (1A) of section 3 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 (bill text).

Who repealed them: Parliament did, by statute. The Supreme Court had only stayed the laws in January 2021.

The Prime Minister announces the withdrawal Parliament or government

On 19 November 2021, the day of Guru Nanak Jayanti, the Prime Minister announced in an address to the nation that the government would withdraw the three laws, and that the constitutional process would be completed in the coming session of Parliament (PIB). He said that despite its efforts the government could not convince a section of farmers, and, apologising to the nation, that perhaps something had been lacking in its efforts (Anadolu, Christian Science Monitor). English translations of the Hindi speech differ slightly.

He also announced a committee to look at natural farming, crop-pattern change and making MSP more effective and transparent. The announcement came months before the 2022 state elections in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh; the repeal bill itself says only that a group of farmers was protesting despite the government’s efforts (bill text). AiTimeline does not attribute the decision to any single cause.

Eight people die in violence at Lakhimpur Kheri Protest on the ground

On 3 October 2021, during a protest against a visit by the state’s Deputy Chief Minister, eight people died in Tikunia, Lakhimpur Kheri: four farmers who were hit by an SUV, and a journalist, two BJP workers and a driver (Deccan Herald). The Special Investigation Team filed a charge sheet of about 5,000 pages in January 2022 naming 17 people, including Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister of State Ajay Kumar Mishra, and said the incident was a pre-planned conspiracy.

A court framed charges on 6 December 2022, and in September 2023 the Supreme Court relieved the SIT after the charge sheet was filed (The Tribune). The Supreme Court granted Ashish Mishra interim bail on 25 January 2023 and made it absolute on 22 July 2024, when it directed the trial court to expedite the case because only 7 of 117 witnesses had been examined; farmers accused in the related case were also granted bail (The Tribune). On 6 August 2026 the Court refused to relax his bail conditions further (Bar and Bench).

The trial was still under way as last reported. Those charged are presumed innocent until a verdict; AiTimeline did not find a verdict.

A mahapanchayat in Muzaffarnagar and a call for a Bharat Bandh Protest on the ground

On 5 September 2021 the SKM held a Kisan Mahapanchayat at the Government Inter College ground in Muzaffarnagar. Organisers claimed more than 10 lakh farmers attended, which AiTimeline could not verify; reports said it served as the launch of the SKM’s campaign in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand before the 2022 elections (Sabrang India). The gathering called for a Bharat Bandh on 27 September.

The 27 September bandh was reported to have had limited impact (Wikipedia). Its place in the story is that the movement had moved from the Delhi borders to the 2022 election states.

Police lathicharge at Karnal’s Bastara toll plaza and a siege of the mini-secretariat Protest on the ground

On 28 August 2021 police charged farmers at the Bastara toll plaza near Karnal. Karnal’s sub-divisional magistrate, Ayush Sinha, was allegedly heard in a video telling police to break the heads of farmers who crossed barricades; a farmer, Sushil Kajal, died, and the unions linked his death to the charge, a link AiTimeline could not verify; the government later agreed to a job for his family. The SKM besieged the Karnal mini-secretariat from 7 September, and on 11 September the government agreed to a judicial inquiry, with the officer sent on leave while it ran (The Quint).

The inquiry commission was headed by retired Justice Somnath Aggarwal. He later said his report was ready but that the government had not taken it up (The Tribune). AiTimeline did not find the report in the public domain.

Farmers hold a Kisan Sansad at Jantar Mantar Protest on the ground

From 22 July 2021, the day the Monsoon Session began, SKM members held a “Kisan Sansad” at Jantar Mantar. The Delhi Disaster Management Authority permitted a staggered protest of at most 200 farmers a day between 11 am and 5 pm until 9 August, citing Covid rules. Farmers were brought by bus from the Singhu border (The Quint).

The mock session debated the farm laws, MSP and the APMC bypass. For how Parliament itself works during such a session, see AiTimeline’s guide to how Parliament legislates.

Seven months: Raj Bhavan marches on the Emergency anniversary Protest on the ground

On 26 June 2021 the SKM called demonstrations outside Raj Bhavans across the country, with memorandums addressed to the President to be handed to Governors. It marked seven months of the agitation and the anniversary of the 1975 Emergency, which speakers called an “undeclared emergency”. Farmer leaders claimed about 40,000 people from Punjab and Haryana reached Chandigarh and faced water cannon; police stopped or detained marchers in several other cities (Sabrang India).

The crowd figures and the comparison come from the farmer leaders; AiTimeline found no official count. For the 1975 event itself, see India’s Emergency, 1975-77.

The Supreme Court’s committee files a sealed report Court step

The four-member committee appointed by the Supreme Court submitted its report in a sealed cover on 19 March 2021; one member, Anil Ghanwat, said it was based on consultation with about 85 farmer organisations (Sabrang India). The report was released by a committee member only on 21 March 2022, after the laws had been repealed (Wikipedia).

The report stayed sealed while the laws were in force. Its findings, released a year later, are in the March 2022 entry above. The protest unions had refused to appear before the committee.

The protest reaches 100 days Protest on the ground

By 6 March 2021 the protest had run for 100 days at the Delhi borders, counted from 26 November 2020. The unions kept demanding repeal of all three laws, having rejected the government’s offers of amendments and of a suspension. The Supreme Court’s stay was in place.

AiTimeline derived the day count by date difference and did not find a single official count of the number of people at the borders on that date.

A tractor parade turns violent in parts of Delhi Protest on the ground

Unions had received permission for a tractor parade on three set routes. On 26 January 2021, sections of the procession broke through barricades at Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri and reached central Delhi; clashes were reported at ITO and other places, and some protesters entered the Red Fort complex and hoisted a religious flag on a flagpole (BOOM). Delhi Police said more than 300 personnel were injured; other accounts give different numbers. Police later booked at least 37 farmer leaders in an FIR.

A farmer, Navreet Singh, died near ITO. Delhi Police released CCTV footage showing his tractor overturning after hitting a barricade; his family alleged police firing. In February 2021 the Delhi and Uttar Pradesh Police told the Delhi High Court that the cause of death was shock and haemorrhage from a head injury, not a gunshot (Business World).

Keep it separate: the people accused of specific acts of violence are not the whole movement, and the cases against them are for courts to decide. AiTimeline did not verify the status of those cases.

The government offers to suspend the laws; the unions say no Talks or settlement

At the tenth round of talks on 20 January 2021, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar offered to put the laws on hold for one to one-and-a-half years and to form a joint committee (Business Today). The SKM unanimously rejected the proposal on 21 January, keeping its demand for full repeal. At the eleventh round on 22 January, the minister repeated the offer of an 18-month suspension, the farmers declined, and the talks broke off in deadlock (Deccan Herald). They were the last formal round.

Sources date the offer to 20 or 21 January and describe its length in different ways, so the exact wording is not stated here.

The Supreme Court stays the laws and appoints a committee Court step

On 12 January 2021 a bench headed by Chief Justice S. A. Bobde, with Justices A. S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian, stayed implementation of the three laws and appointed a four-member committee: Bhupinder Singh Mann, Ashok Gulati, Pramod Kumar Joshi and Anil Ghanwat. The order said the stay could encourage farmers to come to the negotiating table, and that the MSP system as it stood before the laws should continue (LiveLaw).

Mann withdrew from the committee a day later. Farmer unions rejected the panel, partly because its members had backed or suggested improvements to the laws (The Quint).

What the order was: an interim stay and a mediation device. It was not a ruling on whether the laws were constitutional, and the Court did not repeal them.

Talks fail and the unions reject the government’s written proposal Talks or settlement

The government held eleven rounds of talks with farmer representatives between 14 October 2020 and 22 January 2021; none resolved the dispute (Wikipedia). Talks on 3 December were limited to selected unions. A strike was held on 8 December, and on 9 December the unions rejected the government’s written proposal, which included assurances on MSP and changes to the laws.

The government offered amendments, and the unions insisted on repeal. With neither side moving on its central position, the camps at the borders stayed through the winter.

Delhi Chalo: farmers reach the capital’s borders Protest on the ground

Farmers, mainly from Punjab and Haryana, began marching on Delhi on the “Delhi Chalo” call. On 25 November police stopped marchers at state borders with barricades, tear gas and water cannon (Wikipedia). By 26 November large camps formed at the capital’s borders, notably Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur, and remained the centre of the agitation for the next year.

The protest began while the country was still under pandemic restrictions; for that background, see AiTimeline’s COVID-19 lockdown and migrant crisis timeline.

Rail roko, a Bharat Bandh call and the Akali Dal’s exit from the NDA Protest on the ground

Harsimrat Kaur Badal resigned from the Union Cabinet on 17 September 2020 in protest against the bills, and the Shiromani Akali Dal pulled out of the NDA on 26 September, citing the Centre’s refusal to give a statutory guarantee on MSP purchase (The Quint, The News Minute). A “rail roko” campaign began in Punjab on 24 September and the unions called a Bharat Bandh on 25 September (Wikipedia).

The Akali Dal had first defended the ordinances. Its shift shows how fast the Punjab farmer protest moved party politics before the laws were even gazetted.

The President assents to the laws Parliament or government

The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce Act (No. 21 of 2020) records presidential assent on 24 September 2020 and was published in the Gazette on 27 September (Act text). The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act (No. 22 of 2020) records assent on 26 September (Act text). The Agreement Act is No. 20 of 2020 (Act text).

Many reports give 27 September as the date of assent; that is the date of the Gazette. Wikipedia gives 28 September. AiTimeline did not read the assent line of Act 20.

Parliament passes the bills in a week Parliament or government

All three bills were introduced in the Lok Sabha on 14 September 2020. The Essential Commodities bill passed the Lok Sabha on 15 September and the Rajya Sabha on 22 September (PRS). The Trade and Commerce bill and the Agreement bill passed the Lok Sabha on 17 September and the Rajya Sabha on 20 September (PRS, PRS). Reports said the Rajya Sabha passed them by voice vote while opposition members protested.

The Trade Act allowed trade outside APMC market premises with no market fee, and gave disputes to the sub-divisional magistrate (PRS summary). The Agreement Act set rules for pre-production farming agreements, and the stock-limit changes are in the next entry.

The reforms begin as three ordinances Parliament or government

The government promulgated three ordinances on 5 June 2020 covering trade in farmers’ produce, farming agreements and the Essential Commodities Act (PRS ordinance summary). Under the Essential Commodities amendment, stock limits on agricultural produce could be imposed only after a steep price rise: a 100 percent rise in retail price for horticultural produce, or 50 percent for non-perishable agricultural food items (PRS).

The ordinances were issued while the country was still under COVID-19 restrictions. Unions later said the laws lacked consultation; the government’s own account is that the reforms followed years of expert and farmer demand (bill text).