NCERT Summary: Change and Development in Rural Society (Class 12) | Old & New NCERTs for IAS Preparation (Must Read) - UPSC PDF Download

Introduction

India is predominantly a rural society, with a reputation as the land of villages. The country's economy is primarily reliant on agriculture, which is not just a profession but a way of life for farmers. Despite the diversity of the country, there is a strong sense of unity. The interrelation between agriculture and culture is significant, with varying forms and practices of agriculture in different parts of the country.

Agrarian Structure: Caste and Class in Rural India

• The organisation or distribution of landholding is commonly referred to as the agrarian structure, and access to land is a crucial factor in determining the rural class structure. 
• Land is the most significant productive resource in rural areas, and a person's role in the agricultural production process is primarily determined by their access to it. 
• In certain parts of India, the majority of rural households own a small amount of land, while up to 40% to 50% of families have no land ownership at all. 
• This means that they rely on manual labour in agriculture or other industries for their livelihood, resulting in only a few families being prosperous, with most people living slightly above or below the poverty line. 
• Due to the prevalent patrilineal kinship system and mode of inheritance, women are generally not allowed to own land, but rather entitled to an equal share of the family's assets, albeit with limited rights and access to land if they live in a household headed by a man. 
• While medium and large landowners can typically generate significant incomes from farming, agricultural workers are often paid below the legal minimum wage and have unstable employment. 
• Caste and class have nuanced relationships in rural areas, with higher castes having more land and higher incomes, and dominant landowning groups being the most powerful economically and politically in each region. 
• Marginal farmers and landless people typically belong to lower caste groups, while dominant landowning groups are typically middle or high ranked castes. 
•  Historically, low-caste people were required to work for village landlords for a set number of days each year, and many working poor people were bound to landowners in 'hereditary' labour relationships (bonded labour) due to a lack of resources and a reliance on the landed class for economic, social, and political support. 

The Impact of Land Reforms

The Colonial Period

Understanding the changes in the agrarian structure from pre-colonial to post-independence periods is crucial. In the pre-colonial era, the cultivating castes were not the landowners. However, the colonial period saw a system of zamindari emerge, where the regional zamindars controlled land and extracted produce or money from the cultivators. This system caused stagnation or a decrease in agricultural production.

Zamindari System in Colonial India

• When the British colonized much of India, they introduced the zamindari system, where zamindars received a significant portion of the harvest from the peasants who worked the land. Under British rule, zamindars had more control over the land, and they extracted as much produce or money as they could from the cultivators due to high land revenue (taxes) imposed on agriculture. This system caused stagnation or a decrease in agricultural production during the British era.

Ryotwari System in Colonial India

• The ryotwari system was used in regions directly ruled by the British, unlike the zamindari system that was used in many districts. In this system, tax was paid by the "actual cultivators," not the zamindars, and the colonial government dealt directly with landowners or farmers. This reduced the tax burden and increased the incentive for cultivators to invest in agriculture, leading to a relative increase in productivity and prosperity in these areas.

Independent India

After India gained independence, Nehru and his policy advisers implemented a development program that prioritized industrialization and agrarian reform. The poor state of agriculture, low productivity, reliance on imported food grains, and extreme poverty in rural areas were the reasons behind these policy changes.

Land Reforms in India

• The Indian government passed several land reform laws between the 1950s and the 1970s to bring about changes in the agrarian structure. The first major piece of legislation was the abolition of the zamindari system, which removed the middlemen between cultivators and the state. Tenancy abolition and regulation acts were also introduced. The Land Ceiling Acts placed a limit on the maximum amount of land that any one family could own, and surplus land was distributed to landless families and households from designated categories, such as SC and ST households.

Regional Variations in Land Ceiling Acts

• The Land Ceiling Acts had regional variations, depending on the type of land, its productivity, and other variables. While some very large estates were divided, most landowners were able to divide their properties among family members and others through "benami transfers," which allowed them to maintain control over the land. Some rich farmers even divorced their wives (but continued to live with them) to bypass the rules of the Land Ceiling Act. The Act allowed unmarried women to receive a separate share, but not wives.

The Green revolution and its Social Implications

• The Green Revolution, a government-led initiative in the 1960s and 1970s, aimed to modernize agriculture by providing farmers with high-yielding hybrid seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides.
• International agencies largely funded the program, which targeted areas with assured irrigation, mainly focusing on rice and wheat cultivation.
• The Green Revolution led to a significant increase in agricultural productivity, enabling India to produce sufficient foodgrains domestically.
• However, the program also had some unfavorable social and environmental impacts, with small and marginal farmers unable to afford the high cost of inputs, limiting their access to the benefits of the program.
• Additionally, only medium and large farmers who could produce surplus for the market gained significantly from the Green Revolution and the commercialization of agriculture that followed.

Phase:

•  During the first phase of the Green Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s, new technology led to escalating inequalities in rural society, including the eviction of tenant farmers. 
•  As farming became more profitable, landowners started reclaiming land from their tenants, displacing service caste groups who formerly performed agriculturally related tasks. 
•  The wealthy became richer, leading to a process of "differentiation" that left many poor people stagnating or becoming even poorer. 
•  Although there was increased demand for labor, rising prices and a shift from payment in kind to cash worsened the financial situation of most rural workers. 
•  In the 1980s, farmers in India's semi-arid and dry regions began implementing the second phase of the Green Revolution, resulting in a transition from dry to irrigated cultivation, modifications in cropping patterns, and changes in the types of crops grown. 
•  However, in regions where market-oriented agriculture dominated and farmers shifted from multi-cropping to mono-cropping, a drop in prices or poor harvests could force them out of business. 
•  The Green Revolution strategy also led to regional inequality, with areas that underwent the technological transformation advancing while others stagnated. 
•  For example, the program was promoted more in the western and southern regions of the country than in the eastern regions and in areas such as Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh, where the feudal agrarian system still prevails, with landowners and upper castes controlling lower castes, migrant laborers, and small farmers. 

Transformations in Rural Society after Independence

• In the period following India's independence, there were significant transformations in rural social relations, which included the increased use of agricultural labor due to more intensive farming. In areas where agriculture was becoming more commercialized, changes such as a shift from payment in kind to payment in cash, a loosening of traditional bonds or hereditary relationships between farmers or landowners and agricultural workers (bonded labor), and the rise of a class of 'free' wage laborers took place.
• To support these changes, the government invested in constructing rural infrastructure, including roads, electricity, irrigation systems, and the provision of agricultural inputs such as credit from cooperatives and banks. For instance, the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana is one of the government's efforts in this direction. These "rural development" initiatives not only altered the rural economy and agriculture but also the agrarian system and rural society.
• As a result of commercialization, these rural areas became more connected to the wider economy, with an increase in money flowing into villages, creating new business and job opportunities.

Circulation of Labour

• The commercialization of agriculture has brought significant changes in rural society, including the rise of migrant agricultural labor.
• The weakening of traditional ties between laborers or tenants and landlords, along with the increasing demand for agricultural labor during the growing season, has forced laborers to migrate to prosperous Green Revolution regions.
• Since the mid-1990s, growing inequality in rural areas has compelled many households to engage in multiple occupations to make ends meet, resulting in an increase in migrant labor. Men often leave their villages to seek employment and higher wages, leaving behind women and children to live with elderly grandparents.
• Most migrant workers come from less productive, drought-prone areas and work seasonally on farms in Punjab and Haryana, brick kilns in Uttar Pradesh, or construction sites in cities like New Delhi or Bangalore. Wealthy farmers often prefer to hire migrant workers for intensive tasks like harvesting as they can be paid less and are more vulnerable to exploitation, particularly in regions where sugarcane is grown.
• However, migration has created poor living and working conditions for these workers and has resulted in a lack of job security. Women are paid less than men for the same work, and the patrilineal kinship system and other cultural customs that prioritize male rights often exclude them from land ownership, despite their work as landless laborers and cultivators.

Globalisation, Liberalisation & Rural Society

• The liberalisation policy India adopted in the late 1980s has had a significant impact on agriculture and rural society. Decades of state assistance and protected markets are a thing of the past for Indian farmers, who must now compete with the global market. 
• Recently, India made the controversial decision to import wheat, a reversal of its previous policy of foodgrain independence. These decisions indicate the ongoing globalisation of agriculture, the integration of the agricultural sector into the larger global market, and their immediate impact on farmers and rural society.

Contract Farming

• Contract farming involves MNCs approaching farmers in various villages and informing them of the crops they need, such as potatoes, tomatoes, and flowers. MNCs provide the necessary seeds, fertilizers, and know-how for farmers to grow these crops, which are meant to be sold to MNCs for processing into sauces, jams, and other food products. In states like Punjab, where the land is fertile, this practice is common, and farmers are guaranteed a profit and income.
• However, there are disadvantages to this system. Farmers are solely producing goods for MNCs, leaving them vulnerable if there is a crop failure or if the product does not meet MNC standards. Additionally, farmers may replace their production of grains and rice with crops like tomatoes, which cannot be reversed. The traditional knowledge of farmers is often disregarded in favor of information provided by MNCs. Finally, soil erosion from intensive farming may make it difficult to continue farming, leading some to switch to organic methods.

MNCs as Agents

• MNCs are now supplying farmers with seeds and fertilizers, which can be expensive for farmers to purchase. Contract farming can result in high profits, but there is also a high level of uncertainty since farmers have no government assistance in the event of a crop failure.
• Additionally, MNCs take control of the farming process, making it difficult for the government to offer low-interest loans to farmers.

Small and Marginal Farmers' Suicide

• In the Green Revolution Belt, small and marginal farmers aimed to increase productivity by utilizing advanced equipment like tractors and tillers. However, the failure of the crop due to various factors often leads to farmer suicides.
• These factors include the withdrawal of government subsidies and support payments, forcing farmers to borrow from other sources and falling into debt traps. In cases where they are unable to repay the debt, some farmers resort to suicide.
• Crop failure caused by natural or human factors such as pests, insecticides, heavy rain, drought, etc., also contributes to the insecurity of farmers who are completely reliant on the market.
• Apart from production costs, farmers also face additional expenses such as dowry, medical care, and education. All of these factors combine to create a situation of extreme distress for small farmers, leading to a high rate of farmer suicides.