Modern History : Emergence Of Mahatma Gandhi And The Satyagraha Technique (1915-1919)
UPSC CSE Prelims 2011
The Kheda Satyagraha, organized by Mahatma Gandhi in 1918, addressed the grievances of peasants in the Kheda district of Gujarat. The region had experienced severe crop failure due to drought and famine conditions. Despite the significant agricultural distress and the inability of peasants to pay, the British administration insisted on collecting the full land revenue. According to the Land Revenue Code, if the crop yield was less than one-fourth of the normal produce, peasants were entitled to full remission of revenue. However, the government rejected the peasants' appeals for suspension of revenue collection. Mahatma Gandhi, along with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, then organized the satyagraha, urging peasants to withhold revenue payments until their demand for suspension was met. Therefore, statement 1 is correct.
Statement 2 is incorrect. The Kheda Satyagraha was specifically a protest against the collection of land revenue during a period of crop failure and was not related to the introduction of the Permanent Settlement. The Permanent Settlement was a land revenue system introduced by Lord Cornwallis in Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha in 1793, and there was no proposal to implement it in Gujarat during the Kheda Satyagraha. The issue was revenue remission, not a change in the land tenure system.
Option (B) is incorrect because statement 2 is factually erroneous.
Option (C) is incorrect as statement 2 does not represent a reason for the Kheda Satyagraha.
Option (D) is incorrect because statement 1 accurately describes the primary reason for the Kheda Satyagraha.