"The true India resides in its villages," said India's former PM Chaudhary Charan Singh.
Today, National Farmers' Day is celebrated in remembrance of his birth anniversary. He championed for the farmers' cause and welfare and was the architect of several key legislations that changed the lives of farmers, once and for all.
Beginning his political career with the Congress party and first elected to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly (then provincial) in 1937, he held portfolios, including Revenue, Agriculture, Home, and Local Self-Government.
He formulated and finalised the Debt Redemption Bill 1939, which was later enacted as the United Provinces Agriculturists and Workmen Debt Redemption Act in 1940. The Act paved the way for thousands of farmers to save their fields from public auction and curbed money lender exploitation.
As Revenue Minister, he was keen on the abolition of the Zamindari system and formulated the Land Utilisation Bill, the precursor of the Zamindari Abolition and Land Reform Act. The Act razed the feudal system, abolishing intermediaries (Zamindars), and transferred land ownership to actual tillers.
Later, as the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, he played a decisive role in bringing about the Land Holding Act of 1960, which ensured equitable distribution of land among farmers.
In a brief stint as India's Prime Minister from 1979–80, he staunchly called for rural development and farmer-oriented governance.
Of many books he authored, India’s Poverty and Its Solution, an extraordinary work to date, argued that 'agricultural neglect' was the 'root cause' of rural poverty.
He was against excessive urban-industrial bias and promoted remunerative prices for crops, which later transformed into price-support mechanisms. He advocated for cooperative institutions and institutional rural credit. He protected the interests of small and marginal farmers at any cost.
Born in an agrarian family, shaped by Gandhian principles, Charan Singh rose to power, well-marked for his simplicity, integrity, and ethical conduct throughout his political discourse.
“The farmer is the master of this country, but he has forgotten his power,” Charan Singh once said, and the statement still holds deep meaning and many aspects to ponder upon!