Kisan Diwas 2020: Why India observes National Farmers' Day on December 23
India observes National Farmers Day or Kisan Divas on December 23 every year to mark the birth anniversary of fifth Prime Minister Choudhary Charan Singh. Choudhary Charan Singh, regarded as a farmer's leader, introduced many policies to improve their lives. He was born in Noorpur of Uttar Pradesh's Hapur. He served as the Prime Minister of India between July 28, 1979 and January 14, 1980. People refer to him as the 'champion of India's peasants.
The government had in 2001 decided to mark Charan Singh's birth anniversary as Kisan Diwas.
Charan Singh entered politics as part of the Independence movement motivated by Mahatma Gandhi. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the United Provinces in 1937. He took a keen interest in the laws that were detrimental to the village economy. He is credited for playing an important role in bringing the issues of small and marginal farmers to the forefront.
Charan Singh became notable in Uttar Pradesh from the 1950s after he drafted and ensured the passage of revolutionary land reform laws. It was in 1959 when he first opposed then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's "socialistic and collectivist land policies".
He defected from the Congress on in 1967 and sided with the opposition. He also became the first non-Congress Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1967 and later in 1970.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police has denied permission to the Rashtriya Lok Dal to pay tributes to Charan Singh on his 118th birth anniversary at central Delhi's Kisan Ghat area. Police cited the ongoing COVID-19 situation as the reason behind denying permission.
