Read the passage and answer the following questions.
Agricultural land is the single most important resource and form of property in rural society. Further, agrarian structure is often used to refer to the distribution of landholding which is highly unequal among households. Some families own land, while many family do not own any land at all. In most regions of India, women are usually excluded from ownership of land because of the prevailing patrilineal kinship system. Access to land shapes the rural class structure. Medium and large landowners are usually able to earn sufficient income from cultivation. But agricultural labourers are able to earn very little. They are mostly daily-wage workers and their incomes are low. Agrarian society in rural areas have a complex relationship between caste and class. In each region there are usually just one or two major land owning castes who are also numerically very important. Sociologist M.N. Srinivas termed them as dominant castes. Example of dominant land owning groups are Rajputs of U.P., the Lingayats of Karnataka and Kammas of Andhra Pradesh. While dominant landowning groups are usually middle or high ranked castes, most of the marginal farmers and landless belong to lower caste groups. Also, in most regions of the country, a proprietary caste group owns most of the resources and labour who work for them. Until recently, practices such as begar or free labour were prevalent in many parts of north India. Although such practices have been abolished by law, they continue to exist.
Women are usually excluded from owning land because of:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → patrilineal kinship system
Option (1) patrilineal kinship system — Correct. In a patrilineal system the line of descent and the property pass from father to son. So in most regions of India women are usually excluded from owning land because of the prevailing patrilineal kinship system and mode of inheritance. By law women should have an equal share of family property, but in reality they have only limited rights.
Option (2) matrilineal kinship system — Incorrect. Matrilineal societies pass on property from mother to daughter, so such a system would give land to women, not keep them out of its ownership.
Option (3) patriarchy — Incorrect. Patriarchy is a family structure in which men exercise authority and dominance. It is about who rules in the family. Who gets the land is decided by the rule of inheritance, and that rule is the patrilineal kinship system named as the reason.
Option (4) matriarchy — Incorrect. Matriarchy means a society in which women play the dominant role. It has been a theoretical rather than an actual form; there is no historical evidence of it, and it would favour women in any case.
NCERT (2025-26): “4.1 Agrarian Structure: Caste and Class in Rural India … In most regions of India, women are usually excluded from ownership of land, because of the prevailing patrilineal kinship system and mode of inheritance. By law women are supposed to have an equal share of family property. In reality, they only have limited rights and some access to land — only as part of a household headed by a man.…” “3.3 Family and Kinship … With regard to the rules of inheritance, matrilineal societies pass on property from mother to daughter while patrilineal societies do so from father to son. A patriarchal family structure exists where the men exercise authority and dominance, and matriarchy where the women play a similarly dominant role. However, matriarchy – unlike patriarchy – has been a theoretical rather than an empirical concept. There is no historical or anthropological evidence of matriarchy – i.e., societies where women exercise dominance. However, there do exist matrilineal societies, i.e., societies where women inherit property from their mothers but do not exercise control over it, nor are they the decision makers in public affairs.” |