Why do some scholars read the post-Independence change in agrarian relations as a transition to capitalist agriculture?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → The capitalist mode rests on separating workers from land and using 'free' wage labour
Option (1) The capitalist mode rests on state credit through banks and cooperatives — Incorrect. Credit through banks and cooperatives was part of the state's rural development effort. It is a form of state support for farmers and leaves the worker's tie to land unchanged.
Option (2) The capitalist mode rests on separating workers from land and using 'free' wage labour — Correct. The capitalist mode of production rests on separating workers from the means of production, here land, and on using 'free' wage labour. As bonded ties gave way to wage labour, some scholars saw a transition to capitalist agriculture.
Option (3) The capitalist mode rests on modern inputs such as hybrid, high-yielding seeds — Incorrect. Hybrid, high-yielding seeds are the new technology of the Green Revolution. Seeds raise output and leave the worker's tie to land unchanged.
Option (4) The capitalist mode rests on rural infrastructure such as irrigation, roads and electricity — Incorrect. Irrigation, roads and electricity are rural infrastructure built by the state. They help farming grow and leave the relation between workers and land untouched.
NCERT (2026-27): “4.4 Transformations in Rural Society after Independence “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. The change in the nature of the relationship between landlords (who usually belonged to the dominant castes) and agricultural workers (usually low caste), was described by the sociologist Jan Breman as a shift from ‘patronage to exploitation’ (Breman, 1974). Such changes took place in many areas where agriculture was becoming more commercialised, that is, where crops were being grown primarily for sale in the market. The transformation in labour relations is regarded by some scholars as indicative of a transition to capitalist agriculture. Because the capitalist mode of production is based on the separation of the workers from the means of production (in this case, land), and the use of ‘free’ wage labour. …” |