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Date : 23 Dec 2021
Kisan Diwas 2021
Tags :Why in News?
The country observes Kisan Diwas on 23 December which is the birth anniversary of Choudhary Charan Singh, the fifth prime minister of India.
- It is also an occasion to honor the contributions of the farmers of the country signifying the importance of the agriculture sector in the Indian Economy.
More about Kisan Diwas
- The day is celebrated on Choudhary Charan Singh’s birth anniversary to honor his contribution towards the upliftment of the farmers and the development of agriculture in the country.
About Choudhary Charan Singh
Shri Charan Singh was born in 1902 at Noorpur in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh, in a middle-class peasant family.
- He graduated in science in 1923 and did his post-graduation from Agra University in 1925.
- He was first elected to the U.P. Legislative Assembly in 1937 from Chhaprauli.
- He became Parliamentary Secretary in Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant’s Government in 1946.
- Shri Charan Singh served as Minister for Agriculture and Forests (1962-63) and later assumed charge of the Local Self-government department in 1966.
- He served as the Prime Minister of India between 1979-1980.
- He was the chief architect of land reforms in the U.P. It was also at his initiative that the salaries and other privileges enjoyed by Ministers in the U.P. were drastically reduced.
- As Chief Minister he was 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.
- He was the author of several books and pamphlets, including ‘Abolition of Zamindari’, ‘Co-operative Farming X-rayed’, ‘India’s Poverty and its Solution’, ‘Peasant Proprietorship or Land to the Workers’ and ‘Prevention of Division of Holdings Below a Certain Minimum’.
Sources: The Indian Express, News on AIR
