The Socio-Economic Consequences of Green Revolution in India.

1. Green Revolution has certainly improved the food situation in the country.

2. It has solved the problem of hunger and has given a strong base to the Indian economy for further growth.

3. It has transformed the mind set of farmers. In this regard Andre Beteille has aptly remarked. “The green revolution has indeed created a new faith in the dynamism of the Indian farmer who has shown himself to be capable not only of quickly absorbing technological innovations but also of handling social arrangements with considerable dexterity”.

4. However, the impact of the Green Revolution has not been equally favourable for all sections of a agrarian population. What we desire to point out here is that this programme has brought destabilising impact on the socio-economic condition of small and poor peasants, share croppers and landless agricultural labourers.

5. India is a poor country. The new technology and the other inputs such as improved seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, water etc. are beyond the reach of small and marginal farmers. Naturally, some regions of our country with larger landholdings like Punjab have performed better than others like Bihar and Orissa where marginal and poor farmers are in plenty and institutional credit is not easily available. This has widened the gap between the small and the rich farmers.

6. The affluent farmers are enjoying the fruits of increased profits from land but the real wage rate for agricltural labourers has been declining in most places.

7. Most of the share-croppers are now joining the rank of landless labourers because small holdings are not available for leasing out to these share-croppers.

8. Economic inequality in agrarian sector has widened resulting in increased agrarian unrest in rural areas. During the late sixties and the early seventies numerous cases of conflicts were reported especially from the Green Revolution belts (i.e., Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu).

9. The situation became serious and the ministry of Home Affairs and of the Government of India studied the causes and nature of agrarian tensions and admitted the socio-political implications of the new agricultural strategy.

10. Increased agricultural production has been visible mainly in areas like Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. In this fashion, substantial areas in the country have not been benefitted by Green Revolution.

11. A new class of capitalist farmers has emerged in the Green Revolution belts.

12. Finally, important trend suggests that the agricultural production has increased but the social index has not changed in the same proportion. For instance, the gender ratio (females are lesser in number than the males) in those areas where agricultural prosperity has been achieved is still unfavourable.

Comment: However, despite above referred some shortcomings or limitations of the Green Revolution, has undoubtedly paved the way for faster economic growth and corresponding social change.

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M. Imp.