भारतीय अर्थतज्ञ रोमेश दत्त यांनी लॉर्ड कर्झनला एक अनावृत्त पत्र लिहून शेतकऱ्यांच्या आर्थिक हालाखीची पुढीलपैकी कोणती कारणे सांगितली होती ?
(a) अवास्तव जमीन महसूल
(b) दुष्काळ
(c) कालव्याकडे सरकारचे दुर्लक्ष
(d) विविध कर

The correct answer is Option C ((c) and (a) Correct).

Key Points:
• Romesh Chunder Dutt's Open Letters to Lord Curzon (1900):
• Romesh Chunder Dutt (R.C. Dutt), a retired ICS officer and eminent economic historian (author of *The Economic History of India*), wrote a series of famous open letters to Viceroy Lord Curzon in 1900 on Indian famines and land revenue assessments.
• Core Arguments by Dutt:
• 1. Excessive Land Revenue: Dutt argued that the excessive, rigid, and unscientific land tax imposed by the colonial government sucked the peasant's capital and wiped out their staying power during bad seasons.
• 2. Overlooking Canals & Irrigation: Dutt strongly criticized the British administration for spending colossal public revenues on railway construction (to serve British military and commercial interests) while neglecting irrigation canals and water infrastructure.
• Hence, (a) Excessive Land Revenue and (c) Government overlooked the canals were the central reasons emphasized, leading Lord Curzon to issue the Land Revenue Policy Resolution in 1902 in rebuttal.
• Key Takeaway: R.C. Dutt highlighted excessive land revenue and neglect of irrigation canals as primary causes of peasant poverty in his open letters to Curzon.