During a meeting of farmers in Banaras, chaired by Acharya Narendra Dev in 1945, a Congress Manifesto on Land and Agriculture was drafted, calling for the abolition of landlordism. This manifesto also proposed the employment of cultivators in government services to make the administration more representative and responsive to the over 85% rural population in the United Provinces. However, this proposal did not receive the support of Congress or the government.