Question
What transformations took place in the rural society in post-Independent India?
Solution
Several profound transformations in the nature of social relations in rural areas took place in the post-Independence period, especially in those regions that underwent the Green Revolution. These included:
- an increase in the use of agricultural labour as cultivation became more
intensive; - a shift from payment in kind (grain) to payment in cash;
- a loosening of traditional bonds or hereditary relationships between farmers or landowners and agricultural workers (known as bonded labour);
- and the rise of a class of ‘free’ wage labourers’.
As cultivation became more commercialised, these rural areas were also becoming integrated into the wider economy. This process increased the flow of money into villages and expanding opportunities for business and employment.
