• Parliament passed the Bill to repeal the three contentious agricultural laws at the centre of protests by farmers for over a year on the first day of the Winter Session. 

• Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh introduced the Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021 in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. 

• The repeal Bill was passed by voice vote within minutes of its introduction in both the Houses without any discussion as demanded by the opposition. 

• The Bill now awaits the assent of President Ram Nath Kovind for the formal withdrawal of the three laws against which farmers have been protesting at Delhi borders.

• On November 19, in a special address to the nation, Prime Minister Modi announced that all three farm laws will be repealed in the Winter Session.

What were the new agri sector laws?

• Enacted in September last year, the three laws were projected by the Centre as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove middlemen and allow farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country.

The three laws were:

1) Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020.

2) Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020.

3) Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

• Thousands of farmers have been protesting at several border points of Delhi since November last year, demanding a repeal of the three laws and a legal guarantee to the minimum support price (MSP) system for their crops.

• The protesting farmers expressed their apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of the MSP and do away with the ‘mandi’ (wholesale market) system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.

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