DNA Special: Remembering Chaudhary Charan Singh's contribution towards farmers

India's first Prime Minister from the farming community was Chaudhary Charan Singh. He would say that the path of the prosperity of the country passes through farms and barns. Today, however, the wall of protest and agitation is standing on the same path. Chaudhary Charan Singh was born on December 23, 1902. In his memory, the National Farmer's Day is celebrated in our country every December 23.

Chaudhary Charan Singh did not agree with the viewpoint of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru when it came to farmers and opposed the same and finally left the Congress. It is ironic that the same Opposition Congress today is taking advantage of the farmers’ agitation. The meeting between the agricultural minister and the farmers remained inconclusive even today. Even though the government has assured them that they will get the right price for their crops, they are adamant that the new agricultural laws be withdrawn.

In 1937, Singh introduced a private member bill in the interest of farmers in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly at the age of 34. Through this bill, he wanted to give the farmers the right price for their crop and wanted to increase their income. This was similar to what the central government is aiming at today--to increase the income of farmers through new agricultural laws. On the strength of this struggle, he became the fifth prime minister of the country, he also held the post of the home minister, finance minister and deputy prime minister of the country and also became the Uttar Pradesh chief minister twice.

Even as more and more farmers’ unions are showing their support for the new farm laws, many are still agitating on the outskirts of the national capital.

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Wednesday (December 23) said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release Rs 18,000 crore in the accounts of over nine crore farmers through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme on the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, which is celebrated as Sushashan Diwas.

He said the event will be held at every development block across the country and two crore farmers have already registered for it. "On December 25, we celebrate Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birth anniversary and we celebrate it as Sushashan Diwas (good governance day). After Modiji became PM, many steps have been taken to promote good governance, transparency and DBT is an important scheme. There was a time when a PM said we send Rs 100 from the Centre, only Rs 15 reaches villages. But we managed to send Rs 100 to them,” Tomar told the media on Kisan Diwas.

Opposing Indira Gandhi's Emergency decision, the first-ever non-Congress government was formed in the country under the leadership of Morarji Desai in 1977. Chaudhary Charan Singh was deputy prime minister in this government. But in July 1979, the government fell, and then on July 28, 1979, Chaudhary Charan Singh became the Prime Minister of the country with the help of Congress. He had to prove a majority by August 20, but on August 19, Indira Gandhi withdrew support and Chaudhary Charan Singh's government fell and had to resign.

Now, the question is had Congress given a farmer leader time to remain the PM, the farmers would not be in such a plight.

In the year 1978, Chaudhary Charan Singh held a Kisan Sammelan at Delhi’s Boat Club on his 76th birthday. At least 10 lakh farmers participated in the event. This showed his strength following which Morarji Desai's government collapsed and Chaudhary Charan Singh became the prime minister with the help of the Congress.

Apart from Chaudhary Charan Singh, there was another big farmer leader in India named Mahendra Singh Tikait. He was also the Messiah of farmers. He continued his agitations in the interest of the farmers, however, he remained purely a farmer leader and kept himself away from mainstream politics.

Tikait's most spectacular show was at Delhi's Boat Club lawns in 1988 when nearly 5 lakh farmers from western Uttar Pradesh occupied the entire stretch from Vijay Chowk to India Gate. Delhi's power elite held out until the political pressure became too much to handle and after a week, the Rajiv Gandhi government bowed to his 35-point charter of demands that included higher prices for sugarcane and the waiving of electricity and water charges for farmers. Demand was also kept for the right price. In order to stop this movement, there was a firing from the police, in which two farmers were also killed. Leaders like Singh had a vision for the growth of rural India and that there should be massive agricultural reforms in the country.