Before Independence, the fields of a village in the plains were held by a landlord family living in the city. The family visited the village only to collect rent and played no other part in farming. Soon after Independence, a land reform law of the state took away the family's rights over these fields, and the rights passed to another group in the village. Over the years, the village saw new patterns of power and work.
Under the partial land reforms after Independence, to which group did rights like those of this family pass?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Those who managed agriculture but did not themselves cultivate
Option (1) Upper-caste families who lived in the village itself — Incorrect. The upper castes were the old absentee landlords, and the reforms took rights away from them. The rights moved down to the next layer of claimants below them.
Option (2) The landless labourers who tilled and tended the land — Incorrect. The reforms were only partial and left the actual tillers without land. The lower castes who tilled the fields went on working as labourers for the new landholders.
Option (3) Cooperative societies of small cultivators from all castes — Incorrect. Cooperative societies of small cultivators have no part in this change. The rights went to a caste group, the next layer of claimants below the old landlords.
Option (4) Those who managed agriculture but did not themselves cultivate — Correct. The rights went to the next layer of claimants, who managed agriculture but did not cultivate. These intermediate castes, with land and large numbers, became the dominant castes of the countryside.
NCERT (2026-27): “Caste in the Present … |