392 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
11. While the rapid industrialisation of the country is very essential in the opinion of the Federation agriculture is bound to remain the foundation of India’s economy. Any scheme of increased production which does not take into account the re-construction of Indian agriculture is doomed to disappointment.
12. The Federation holds that for increased production in agriculture the following plan must be adopted :—
(i) Agriculture must be mechanised. Agriculture in India can never become prosperous so long as the method of cultivation remains primitive.
(ii) To make mechanised farming possible, cultivation on small holdings must be replaced by large farms.
(iii) To increase the yield, there must be provision for adequate manuring and for the supply of healthy seeds.
13. It is not possible for the average agriculturist to adopt this plan and work upon it. He has no means to bear the cost involved in the plan. The Scheduled Castes Federation believes that the plan should be put into effect by the State. The first item in this plan should be the responsibility of the State. The State should supply all the mechanized equipment to the farmer on hire and at a rental to be recovered along with the land revenue.
14. With numerous small holdings, the problem of creating large scale farms becomes very difficult. But the problem must be solved either by introducing Co-operative farms or collective farms.
15. Although India is an agricultural country, there are a vast number of people who are just landless labourers, who are ekeing out a miserable living and who are exploited by cultivators and majority of whom are Untouchables and other backward classes. There is no need why this body of landless labourers should be left to their fate resulting in their misery