The Hindu : The son of the soil

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 23, 2002

Opinion

Opinion - News Analysis

The son of the soil

By Satya Prakash Malaviya

Chaudhary Charan Singh was a farmer in thought, word, taste and deed. He was the first kisan Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and twice Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, the Union Home and Finance Minister but never forgot about the farmers.

On December 25, 1977, addressing a meeting on the martyrdom day of Maharaja Suraj Mal, he said: "My instincts are those of the family of a poor farmer who lived in a kutcha hut in the midst of dust and mud. I have passed my childhood amongst farmers who sweat it out in the field."

He always accorded priority to agriculture and supported cottage, village, small-scale and hand-operated industries and hand-made goods. He relentlessly struggled for the prosperity of Indian agriculture and farmers and making them self-reliant. He always encouraged farmers' participation in politics and their sharing political power.

In the preface of his book Economic nightmare of India — its causes and cure published in May 1981 he wrote: "To those in the villages who have no work for most part of the year, to those living in more than two lakhs of villages who do not get clean drinking water or can get it only after trekking a long distance and to those in the villages whose children always go to sleep half-hungry, the transfer of large economic resources to air-conditioning plants, synthetic fibre factories, big airports, modern hotels, skyscrapers, an endless range of domestic gadgets and the like makes no sense at all. Yesterday they suffered, today they are bewildered and for tomorrow they have no hopes. Only if they knew how to react."

In 1939, a Debt Redemption Bill drafted by Mr. Singh was passed, which freed several farmers of Uttar Pradesh from the clutches of moneylenders and debt and helped thousands of farmers in saving their fields from auction.

On July 11, 1952, as Agriculture Minister, he led Uttar Pradesh in abolishing the zamindari system. He had himself drafted the U.P. Zamindari and Land Reforms Bill. His speech in the Assembly in support of the bill is an argumentative historical piece based on facts and his personal experience. Patwaris supported and helped the zamindars. In 1952, the patwaris launched a state-wide hartal. Singh, with a stroke of pen, dismissed from service about 27,000 patwaris. The farmers felt a great relief.

In 1953, he got the Consolidation of Holdings Act passed, and implemented it successfully in 1954. He exempted fertilizer from sales tax. He framed a policy for redistribution of land obtained by imposition of ceiling on large farmers to Scheduled Castes. He exempted the land revenue for farmers owning land up to three and half acres.

In 1964, he founded a Krishak Samaj with an objective to benefit small and ordinary farmers by modern scientific methods.

Mr. Singh was against cooperative farming and state trading in foodgrains as he considered them to be against the interest of farmers. In 1959, at the 64th session of the Congress in Nagpur, the then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was in favour of cooperative farming. The resolution on agriculture policy in the session supported cooperative farming. Mr. Singh spoke against cooperative farming and termed it totally impractical in Indian conditions. Giani Zail Singh, in an article on this historical episode, wrote: "At that time, I was a member of Parliament and Congress Working Committee. I got an opportunity to hear the inspiring speech of Chaudhary Saheb in the Nagpur session. I was spellbound by his hour-long fluent speech. In the pandal, there was all round clapping when Panditji moved the resolution. After Chaudhary Saheb's speech, is seemed as if the tables had been turned. Panditji replied to Chaudhary Saheb. Though not agreeing with Panditji we had to support him."

During 1977-79, as a member of the Union Cabinet, Mr. Singh exempted unmanufactured tobacco from excise duty and thus helped millions of tobacco growers. He also reduced excise duty on all chemical fertilizers up to 50 per cent of the then existing rate. As Finance Minister in 1979, he established the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development with a view to providing loans for agriculture and rural development schemes.

The "Food For Work" scheme was launched during his tenure, for rural unemployed. The production levy was reduced on fertilizer, diesel and agricultural implements. He increased the budgetary allocation for the agricultural sector. During his Prime Ministership in 1979, the Rural Reconstruction Ministry was formed with a view to develop rural areas. He founded the Kisan Trust in 1979 to create awareness among the rural masses against exploitation and injustice and to foster unity among them. Mr. Singh passed away on May 29, 1987. He was the name of a thoughtful ideology. He presented an alternative economic philosophy to India. He wanted to incarnate an India of the dreams of Mahatma Gandhi. He was the only leader who made significant contribution in the field of agriculture and the void created by him could not be filled and probably may not be filled.

(The writer is a former Union Cabinet Minister)

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