In the given question, a statement of Assertion is followed by a statement of Reason. Mark the correct answer.

Assertion: The East India Company passed the Permanent Settlement which came into force in 1793.
Reason: Company officials felt that a fixed revenue demand would give zamindars a sense of security and, assured of returns on their investment, encourage them to improve their estates.

Both the Assertion and the Reason are correct and the Reason is the correct explanation of the Assertion.

The Permanent Settlement had come into operation in 1793. The East India Company had fixed the revenue that each zamindar had to pay. Company officials felt that a fixed revenue demand would give zamindars a sense of security and, assured of returns on their investment, encourage them to improve their estates. In the early decades after the Permanent Settlement, however, zamindars regularly failed to pay the revenue demand, and unpaid balances accumulated