Kisan Diwas, National Farmers Day in India
National Farmer’s Day or Kisan Diwas is celebrated across the country on December 23 to honor and recognise farmers as the backbone of this country. To honor the birth anniversary of Choudhary Charan Singh, the fifth Prime Minister of India, this day was chosen. In states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, and Madhya Pradesh, where farmers are actively engaged in agriculture, National Farmer’s Day is celebrated every year.
History of National Farmer’s Day
India is known as a country of villages and agricultural surpluses. Also, almost 50% of the people depend on agriculture for their livelihoods and form the majority of the country’s rural population. In 2001, the tenth government decided to recognise Choudhary Charan Singh’s contribution to the agriculture sector and welfare of farmers by celebrating his birth anniversary as Kisan Diwas. Since then, December 23 has been observed as National Farmers’ Day. This is generally celebrated by organising awareness campaigns and drives across the country to educate people on the role of farmers and their contribution to the economy.
About Chaudhary Charan Singh
- Shri Chaudhary Charan Singh was born in 1902 at Noorpur in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh in a peasant family.
- He served as the fifth Prime Minister of India from 28 July 1979 to 14 January 1980. Coming from an agricultural family, he was a proponent of rural and agricultural development. He made continuous efforts to keep agriculture at the centre of planning for India.
Key Contribution- - Formulation and finalisation of the Debt Redemption Bill 1939 was done under his leadership. The aim of the bill was to give relief to the peasantry from moneylenders.
- He was the chief architect of land reforms in U.P.; he took a leading part in formulation and finalisation of the Dept. Redemption Bill 1939, which brought great relief to rural debtors. 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.
- While serving as agriculture minister in 1952, he led UP in its efforts to abolish the Zamindari system.
- He was the founder of the Kisan Trust, which was a non-political, non-profit-making body, on 23 December 1978. The aim of the trust was to educate India’s rural masses against injustice, and foster solidarity among them.
- He was a believer in simple living. He spent most of his free time reading and writing. Singh published numerous books and booklets during his lifetime. His well-known works are Co-operative Farming X-rayed, India’s Poverty and its Solution and Abolition of Zamindari.
- Shri Charan Singh served Uttar Pradesh in various capacities and won a reputation as a hard taskmaster who would not tolerate inefficiency, nepotism and corruption in administration. A gifted parliamentarian and a pragmatist, Shri Charan Singh is known for his eloquence and courage of conviction.
- A dedicated public worker and staunch believer in social justice, Shri Charan Singh’s strength stemmed essentially from the confidence he enjoyed among millions of peasants.
QUOTES FOR FARMER’S DAY
- “If agriculture goes wrong, nothing else will have a chance to go right in the country.” – M. S. Swaminathan
- “I would rather be on my farm than be emperor of the world.” – George Washington
- “The nation that destroys its soil destroys itself.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
- “The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways.” — John F. Kennedy
- “It is only the farmer who faithfully plants seeds in the spring, who reaps a harvest in the Autumn” — B.C. Forbes
