PM Modi honours Former PM Charan Singh for Bharat Ratna award win
PM Modi honours Former PM Charan Singh for Bharat Ratna award win
It is a matter of pride that the government and PM Narendra Modi as as part of a fitting tribute honoured former Prime Minister Chaudhry Charan Singh with Bharat Ratna for his unmatched leadership.
His timeless legacy as a champion of peasants remains integral to shaping our nation’s agricultural policies and social ethos.
Many eyebrows raised for the honour and many questioned why the Bharat Ratna for Charan Singh. It’s not only for Charan Singh but even for
MS Swaminathan and PV Narasimha Rao.
Charan Singh born in 1902 at Noorpur in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh, in a middle class peasant family, graduated in science in 1923, and did his post-graduation from Agra University in 1925. He also received training in law and practiced a Ghaziabad. He shifted to Meerut in 1929 and later joined the Congress.
He was first elected to the U.P. Legislative Assembly in 1937 from Chhaprauli, and represented the constituency in 1946, 1952, 1962 and 1967.
He became Parliamentary Secretary in Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant’s Government in 1946 and worked in various departments such as Revenue, Medical and Public Health, Justice, Information etc. I
In June 1951, he was appointed Cabinet Minister in the State and given charge of the Departments of Justice and Information. Later he took over as the Minister for Revenue and Agriculture in the Cabinet of
Dr. Sampurnanand in 1952.
At the time of resigning in April 1959,l he resigned in April 1959, and was holding charge of the Department of Revenue and Transport.
In C.B. Gupta’s Ministry he was Minister for Home and Agriculture in Sucheta Kripalani’s Ministry.
Notedly, Charan Singh served as Minister for Agriculture and Forests (1962-63)
Subsequently, in 1965, he gave up the Department of Agriculture in 1965 and assumed charge of the Local Self-government department in 1966.
After the Congress split, he emerged as the Chief Minister of U.P. for the second time in February 1970 with the support of the Congress Party.
However, President’s Rule was imposed in the State on October 2, 1970.
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, Charan Singh was known for his eloquence and courage of conviction.
He was the chief architect of land reforms in U.P and took a leading part in formulation and finalisation of the Dept. Redemption Bill 1939, which brought great relief to rural debtors.
It was also at his initiative that the salaries and other privileges enjoyed by Ministers in U.P. were drastically reduced.
As Chief Minister he was instrumental in bringing on the Land Holding Act 1960 which was aimed at lowering the ceiling on land holdings to make it uniform throughout the State.
News Edit K.V.Raman
