NEWS: Year-long programmes will be held to mark the 75th anniversary of Kagodu Satyagraha in Karnataka.

ABOUT KAGODU SATYAGRAHA

• Peasant movement launched in 1951 at Kagodu village, Sagar taluk, Shivamogga district (Karnataka).
• Led by tenant farmers against landlords over unfair yield-sharing arrangements.
• Triggered by disputes regarding the ‘laga’ system (measurement of agricultural produce).
• Considered one of the earliest major post-independence agrarian movements in India.

KEY EVENTS

• Tenant farmers refused to comply with exploitative terms imposed by landlords.
• Landlords retaliated by denying farmers access to lands they cultivated.
• Police action, arrests, and protests attracted national attention.
• Socialist leaders Ram Manohar Lohia and H.D. Ganapathyappa supported the movement.
• Lohia visited Kagodu and expressed solidarity with tenant farmers.

SIGNIFICANCE

• Laid the foundation for land reform legislation in Karnataka.
• Strengthened the rights of tenant farmers and agricultural labourers.
• Became an important milestone in India's agrarian and social justice movements.

75th ANNIVERSARY OBSERVANCE

• Year-long awareness programmes planned across Karnataka.
• Aim → revive public memory of the movement and its contribution to land reforms.
• Cultural events, discussions, theatre productions, and village-level programmes proposed.