What was the basic ideology of the New farmer’s movements that began in the 1970s in Punjab and Tamil Nadu?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → They were strongly anti-state and anti-urban.
Option (1) They were strongly pro-state and anti-urban. — Incorrect. Anti-urban is right, but the movements were against the state, not for it: they fought the government over prices, taxes and loans.
Option (2) They were strongly pro-state and pro-urban. — Incorrect. Both halves are reversed. The farmers saw both the state and the cities as working against the countryside.
Option (3) They were strongly anti-state and pro-urban. — Incorrect. Anti-state is right, but the movements were against the cities, which they felt gained at the cost of villages.
Option (4) They were strongly anti-state and anti-urban. — Correct. The new farmers’ movements began in the 1970s in Punjab and Tamil Nadu. They were regionally organised, non-party, and made up of market-involved farmers. Their demands were about prices: procurement prices, input prices, taxation and non-repayment of loans. Their basic ideology was strongly anti-state and anti-urban.
NCERT (2025-26): “Peasant Movements … New farmer’s movements began in the 1970s in Punjab and Tamil Nadu. These movements were regionally oganised, were non-party, and involved farmers rather than peasants (farmers are said to be market-involved as both commodity producers and purchasers). The basic ideology of the movement was strongly anti-state and anti-urban. The focus of demand were ‘price and related issues’ (for example, price procurement, remunerative prices, prices for agricultural inputs, taxation, non-repayment of loans). Novel methods of agitation were used: blocking of roads and railways,…” |