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Lesson 20:Post –Independence era

Grow-More-Food Enquiry Committee Report

Though efforts were made to revitalize the Grow-More-Food Campaign, it was observed that the system was not functioning properly and the cultivator's response to the programme was very poor. As a result, the Government of India in 1952 appointed a committee known as the GMF Enquiry Committee to examine the working of the Grow-More-Food. The Committee came to the conclusion that it was only by bringing about an appreciable improvement in the standards of rural life to make it fuller and richer that the rural masses could be awakened to take interest in not only increasing agricultural production but also improving their own conditions and creating a will to live better.

The committee also pointed out that

• all aspects of village life were interrelated
• improvement could be brought about by a number of detached programmes operating independently
• there was lack of unity of efforts,
• the available finances was not adequate,
• the rural community as a whole did not participate effectively in the campaign. In short, "the movement did not arouse nation-wide enthusiasm and did not become a mass movement for raising the level of village life"