Research Briefing
Farmers’ protests in India and agricultural reforms
India experienced over a year of mass protests by farmers over agricultural reforms, the largest such protests in decades. The Indian Government passed the three farm laws in September 2020, but repealed them in November 2021 when it became clear the farmers who opposed the reforms would not back down. This briefing paper looks at the problems the reforms were trying to solve, why so many farmers were unhappy with them, why the Indian Government response to the protests was criticised, why the Indian Government criticised the international response to the protests, including in the UK, what have the UK Government and Parliament said about the protests, and if the protests have truly ended.