KISAN DIWAS 2021
Disclaimer: Copyright infringement not intended.
Context
- Indian National Farmers Day is celebrated every year on December 23, which is also the birth anniversary of the country's fifth Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh.
About
- India has been celebrating Singh's birthday as National Farmers Day since 2001.
Importance of agriculture in Indian economy
- Almost half of India’s rural households have insignificant stakes in agriculture.
- According to 2019 Situation Assessment Survey (SAS), there are 93.1 million agricultural households in rural India.
- An agricultural household is defined as one which produced field or horticultural crops, livestock, or other specified agricultural products worth more than Rs 4,000 and had a member self-employed in agriculture in the 365 days preceding the survey.
Significance of Kisan Diwas
- The day celebrates the farmers and their work in the country.
- It marks the contribution of the former prime minister to the agricultural reforms of India.
Contribution made by Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh
- Influenced by Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violence, Singh entered the Independence movement.
- After Independence, he associated himself with socialism in rural areas.
- He was the chief architect of land reforms in Uttar Pradesh.
- He took a leading part in the formulation and finalisation of the Debt Redemption Bill 1939, which brought great relief to rural debtors.
- He was also instrumental in bringing about the Land Holding Act, 1960 which was aimed at lowering the ceiling on land holdings to make it uniform throughout the State.
- Singh was given the sobriquet ‘Champion of India’s Peasants’ for his work towards upliftment of farmers and development of agriculture throughout the country.
- He also authored several books on farmers' upliftment.
- Some prominent titles are - ‘Abolition of Zamindari’, ‘Co-operative Farming X’, ‘Prevention of Division of Holdings Below a Certain Minimum’.
- He became Prime Minister of India in
1.png)
