GREEN REVOLUTION

 The fundamental change and phenomenal increase in food grains production in late sixties in India has
earned the name of 'Green Revolution'
 Term given by – Dr. William Gaud
 The Intensive Agricultural District Programme (IADP) popularly known as the Package Programme was
started in 1961. It aimed at combining improved technology, credit, high yielding seeds, inputs like fertilizers,
pesticides and assured irrigation for stepping up agricultural production.
 Other programmes introduced in the sixties to complement this include High-Yielding Varieties Programme
(HYVP), Small Farmers Development Agency (SFDA) and the Marginal Farmers and Agricultural Labourers
Development Scheme (MFALDS)
 Inspired by latin American countries like Mexico, Asian- phillipines.
 Andre Beteille has remarked The Green Revolution has indeed created a new faith in the dynamism of the
Indian farmer who has shown himself to be capable not only of quickly absorbing technological innovations
but also of handling social arrangements with considerable dexterity.
 P.C. Joshi has argued that conflict and discontent are inherent in the outmoded agrarian structure . While
such an agrarian structure provides the basic cause of tension, the 'proximate causes' which have led to the
eruption of 'latent' discontent into 'manifest' tension are located in the new agricultural strategy and the
Green Revolution.
 T.K. Oommen shows that "the green revolution as such does not lead to the welfare of the agrarian poor
unless substantial alterations in the prevalent socio-economic and political structure are effected at the grass
roots."

It also produced significant social and political changes in the Indian village and did bring about an agricultural
revolution. In purely economic terms the agricultural sector experienced growth at the rate of 3 to 5 % per annum
which was many times more than what the rate of growth had been during the colonial period (less than 1%)

conceptualized agrarian change in purely technological terms and was based on the trickle-down theory of economic
growth.

reaping the economic gains of modernization while avoiding the social costs of mass upheaval and disorder usually
associated with rapid change.

argued that the new technology was scale neutral and could be used with as much benefit by small as well as big
landowners. However in the actual implementation small holdings were not found to be viable units for
technological change. Participating in the green revolution did not mean the same thing to smaller farmers as it did
to bigger farmers. While bigger farmers had enough surplus of their own to invest in the new capital-intensive
farming.

 for smaller landowners it meant addl dependence on borrowing generally from informal sources.

• Although theoretically the new technology was scale neutral it was certainly not resource neutral.

• The new technology also compelled widespread involvement with the market. Cultivators had to buy all farm
inputs from the market for which they often had to take credit from traders or institutional sources.

In order to clear the debts they had no choice but to sell the farm yield in the market even when they needed to
keep it for their own consumption. They sold their farm yield immediately after harvesting when prices were
relatively low and bought later in the year for consumption when prices were higher. Thus although the small
farmers took to the new technologies the fact that their resources were limited meant that these technologies
ushered in a new set of dependencies.

• On the other hand it has strengthened the economic and political position of rich farmers. One of the
manifestations of the growing market orientation of agrarian production was the

• emergence of a totally new kind of mobilization of surplus producing farmers who demanded a better deal for the
agricultural sector. These new farmers' movements emerged almost simultaneously in virtually all the green
revolution regions. These movements gained momentum during the decade of the [Link] movements were
led by substantial landowners who had benefited most from the developmental programmes and belonged to the
numerically large middle -level caste groups whom Srinivas had called the dominant castes.

• The members of this new social class not only emerged as a dominant group at village level but they also came to
dominate regional /state-level politics in most parts of India. They had an accumulated surplus that they sought to
invest in ever more profitable enterprises. Some of them diversified into other economic activities or migrated to
urban areas or entered agricultural trade.

 changes produced by the green revolution also generated an interesting debate among Marxist scholars-
whether capitalism had become dominant in Indian agriculture or was still characterized by the semi-feudal
mode of production.
 Another set of scholars on the basis of their own empirical studies mostly from eastern India asserted that
Indian agriculture was still dominated by a semifeudal mode of production. According to this school
landlords cum moneylenders continued to dominate the process of agricultural production. Peasants and
labourers were tied to them through the mechanism of debt that led to forced commercialization of labour
and agricultural yield. This produced a self-perpetuating stagnant and exploitative agrarian structure that
could be described as semi-feudal. The internal logic of this system worked against any possibility of
agricultural growth or the development of capitalism in Indian agriculture.

However towards the end of the debate there seems to have emerged a consensus that though it may have its local
specificities and considerable regional variations, the capitalist mode of production was on its way to dominating the
agrarian economy of India and that regions which had experienced the green revolution.

Social consequences of Green Revolution

• The green revolution has been basically a contribution of the middle-class peasantry who have had traditionally a
strong attachment to land and agriculture as a mode of life and livelihood. Green revolution made a departure from
the traditional pattern.

• The family mode of production continued but authority passed from the older to the younger generation. The new
agriculture required the skill in the peasant to negotiate with banks, revenue authorities, marketing bodies and block
administration. The new peasant was also required to consult the experts and technicians for irrigation, soil testing,
the use of fertilizers and seeds. This role was performed by the younger generation which was educated
comparatively more than the older generation.

• The Green revolution had led to the consolidation of the status of the middle peasantry as a dominant class. The
upper caste class groups which traditionally dominated was replaced by the middle peasantry or had to compete
with them to maintain their traditional status and power.

• They employed a variety of strategies of cooperation, compromises and confrontation. These set of social forces in
rural society led increasingly to social polarization, large scale migration to cities, social tensions. The relationship
between the middle-class peasantry and the lower castes declined and led to exploitation and violence.

• Resumption of land by landlords for personal cultivation and eviction of tenants from their tenure have been the
factors leading to this trend. The process was further accelerated by the Green Revolution

• After 1965-HYV-irrigation-fertilizers-self sufficient in food grain production- social ethnic and political effect.

• 2 stages-first stage Punjab Haryana western UP- 2nd stage South and western India

• Norman Borlaug- M S Swaminathan- wonder wheat Mexico-Punjab and Haryana 200 times production

• Seed cooperatives-credit cooperatives-irrigation cooperatives- fertiliser cooperatives-upper class rich got the
benefit-poor farmers old seed
• Scarlett Epistine: In Karnataka- nexus between class caste power- lift irrigation at the centre of the field of rich
farmer-obstruction walls- lands at higher height-no water-less production-disstress sale-dominant caste became
dominant class.

• Credit cooperatives- nexus between rich farmers-bribe-capitalist agriculture • P Vardhan- Poverty study is always
based on basic needs and its fulfillment- not on economic sustainability of family- surplus income to invest in
education, health etc- is green revolution creating employment or disguised unemployment. Effect of GR should
studied in these lines.

• GR-productivity increased-but rich poor divide widened-not helpful in rural development .

• Bhalla and Chadda- In Punjab and Haryana- 200 villages- the per acre difference in productivity between rich and
poor is 200 times and the income difference is 16 times.

• GR-distress migration from Bihar and eastern UP to Punjab and Haryana-exploited.

• Lakshmi Menon and Utsa Pattnaik- gender impact on green revolution- family income goes beyond consumption
needs- it becomes status symbol- people become status conscious- women are withdrwan from labour- economy
dominated by men- glorification of gender

Green chemistry can be defined as the practice of chemical science and manufacturing in a manner that is
sustainable, safe, and non-polluting and that consumes minimum amounts of materials and energy while producing
little or no waste material. 

The practice of green chemistry begins with recognition that the production, processing, use, and eventual disposal
of chemical products may cause harm when performed incorrectly. 

In accomplishing its objectives, green chemistry and green chemical engineering may modify or totally redesign
chemical products and processes with the objective of minimizing wastes and the use or generation of particularly
dangerous materials. 

Those who practice green chemistry recognize that they are responsible for any effects on the world that their
chemicals or chemical processes may have. 

Far from being economically regressive and a drag on profits, green chemistry is about increasing profits and
promoting innovation while protecting human health and the environment.

Green chemistry, as first defined by Paul Anastas and John Warner in their book Green Chemistry:
Theory and Practice, is:

The utilization of a set of principles that reduces or eliminates the use or generation of hazardous
substances in the design, manufacture and application of chemical products.
Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry

 Prevent waste: 
 Design safer chemicals and products
 Design less hazardous chemical syntheses
 Use renewable feedstock
 Use catalysts, not stoichiometric reagents
 Avoid chemical derivatives
 Maximize atom economy
 Use safer solvents and reaction conditions
 Increase energy efficiency
 [Link] chemicals and products to degrade after use.
 [Link] in real time to prevent pollution
 12. Minimize the potential for accidents

Changing modes of production in Indian Agriculture

Capitalism exploits labour + invests in technology to reduce dependence on labour and increase volume of
production

• Western-shift from feudalism to capitalist agri-India- change is not uniform

• Agrarian transformation in India-depends on- geographical diversity-historical differences and contemporary

• Marxist Sociologists- no peasant mobilisation like China or Russia-class difference is the obstruction.

• Gail Omvedt- strong nexus between caste and class- caste conflict is also class conflict. • Andre Beteilles book-
Agrarian Social structure- no vertical mobility of peasants. • AR Desai- land reforms not successful- benami transfers
in the name of cooperative farminglandlords holding tenants in unofficial contracts-so they cant take legal route-
they dont enjoy their rights.

• Colonial time-purely feudalistic • Orissa,Manipur,Assam-traditional technology-caste land holdings nexus is weak-

• MP, Bihar, UP, Bengal- some land reserved for commercial agri- contractual labourers rather than hired labourers-
old land lord peasant system is still there- land reforms has least impact-semi capitalist mode of production.

• Southern states- benefits of agriculture pocketed by rich farmers-low level tehnology uselower caste people as agri
labours-low intensive capitalist region.

• Punajb and Haryana-tenacy system absent- hired labour- production as per market demands- farmers are highly
unionised-caste and landownership relationship is absent- class consolidation high- intensive capitalist agriculture.

• Multiple modes of production-60% are still landless- marginal farmers come from Dalit and Tribal origin- 16%
agriculturists are from dominant castes- Jats,Yadavs,Bhomiars,Lingayats,Rajputs and [Link] from artisan
caste-small holdings.

• Agrarian transformation in India neither capitalist nor socialist-mixed of both-complex phenomenon.

• Daniel Thorner- study of 250 villages-Earlier- land to tiller- but people controlled landlargely capitalist
• Ashok Rudra- No changes in crops. Same crops for centuries. And for self consumption too. – profit for conspicuous
consumption-Part capitalist

• Utsa Patnaik- pre- capitalist- preparatory stage for capitalism getting created. • PC Joshi- Disguised zamindari
present- feudalistic • Amit Bhiduri- Part feudal. Majority. Caitalist spirit- but lack means. • Gail Omvedt and Jan
Berman- Teritorially into different parts- Semi feudal, Feudal, Semi capitalism, Pure capitalism

K.L. Sharma elaborates the second position, “caste incorporates the element of class and class has a cultural (caste)
style, hence the two systems cannot be easily separated even analytically”. They were the three classes of the
landowners (zamindars), the tenants and the agricultural labourers. The landowners (zamindars) were tax gatherers
and non-cultivating owners of land. They belonged to the upper caste groups. The agricultural labourers were placed
in a position of bondsmen and hereditarily attached labourers. They belonged to the lower caste groups. Land
reforms led to the eviction of smaller tenants on a large scale. But the intermediate castes of peasants, e.g., the Ahir,
Kurmi etc. in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh benefited

P.C. Joshi has summarised in the following manner the trends in the agrarian class structure and relationships. • It
led to the decline of feudal and customary types of tenancies. It was replaced by a more exploitative and insecure
lease arrangement.

• It gave rise to a new commercial based rich peasant class who were part owners and part tenants. They had
resource and enterprise to carry out commercial agriculture.

• It led to the decline of feudal landlord class and another class of commercial farmers emerged for whom
agriculture was a business.

Kotovsky has noted the process of increasing proletarianisation of the peasantry in villages. The process of social
mobility and transformation in rural India has been explained by sociologists by the terms embourgeoisement and
proletarianisation. Embourgeoisement refers to the phenomenon of upward mobility of the intermediate class
peasantry i.e., their emergence as new landlords. Proletarianisation describes the process of downward mobility,
i.e., depeasantisation of small and marginal peasants and a few landlords and their entry into the rank of the rural
landless agricultural labourers.

Problems of Rural labour

The main factors which make it difficult to organises the workers are:

• the large number of employers (land holders), dispersal of workers over a large geographical region,

• uncertainty of employment (seasonal in nature), • rapid growth of rural population resulting in surplus man power,
• family labour substituting for the hired labour, and overall low productivity in agriculture.

The main factors which make it difficult to organises the workers are:

• the large number of employers (land holders), dispersal of workers over a

• large geographical region,

• uncertainty of employment (seasonal in nature),

• rapid growth of rural population resulting in surplus man power,

• family labour substituting for the hired labour, and overall low productivity in agriculture. Impact on female labour:
there are gender differential in earnings. The reported differences in daily earnings of male & female agricultural
labourers are a clear indication of discrimination against latter

The discontents of the rural labour were also manifested in vehement out burst of the radical peasant movements
viz., the Tebhaga Movement 1946-47, Telangana 1948-52 and in the Naxalite Movement 1967-1971.

BONDED LABOUR
• Bonded labor in India can be viewed as a product of social, historical, economic, and cultural factors.

• In fact, system of bonded labour, as prevalent in Indian society, is a relic of feudal hierarchical society.

• Bonded labor, which is characterized by a long-term relationship between employer and employee, is usually
solidified through a loan, and is embedded intricately in India’s socioeconomic culture—a culture that is a product of
class relations, a colonial history, and persistent poverty among many citizens

• Bonded labor is most prevalent in rural areas where the agricultural industry relies on contracted, often migrant
laborers. However, urban areas also provide fertile ground for long-term bondage.

• Characterized by a creditor-debtor relationship that a laborer often passes on to his family members, bonded labor
is typically of an indefinite duration and involves illegal contractual stipulations.

• Bonded labor contracts are not purely economic; in India, they are reinforced by custom or coercion in many
sectors such as the agricultural, silk, mining, match production, brick kiln industries, etc.

• In states like Kerala, where land reforms have been implemented by statute, bonded labour virtually has been
eliminated as opposed to States like Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamilnadu and Karnataka where large portions of
land are still held by families who practice feudal forms of land ownership and labour employment

• Child Labour: The largest single employer of children in India is the agricultural sector where an estimated twenty-
five million children are employed; and the second largest employer of Indian children is the service sector where
children work in hotels and as household maids. An additional five million Indian children are employed in other
labor-intensive industries.

• Origin and causes: Bonded labor stems from a variety of causes, which are highly debated in the literature: an
ingrained legacy of caste-based discrimination, vast poverty and inequality, an inadequate education system, unjust
social relations, and government’s unwillingness to alter the status quo all exemplify a few such causes

• Article 23 of the 1949 Constitution of India outlaws both the trafficking of human beings and forced labor, but the
legislation defining and banning bonded labor was only approved by Parliament in 1976.

• The Supreme Court of India has interpreted bonded labor as the payment of wages that are below the prevailing
market wage or the legal minimum wage.

• The main problem that is faced in the implementation of the 1976 Act is the identification of bonded labourers.
Neither the administrators at the district and tehsil levels admit the existence of bonded labourers in their areas nor
do the creditors accept that any bonded workers are serv-ing them, nor are the workers themselves willing to give
statements that they are being forced to work as bonded labourers since long.

• The other handicap which aggravates the problem is the economic rehabilitation of the re-leased labourers. The
economic rehabilitation includes: finding jobs for them, getting them minimum wages, giving them training in arts
and crafts, allotment of agricultural land, helping them in developing the al-lotted land

• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (Justice P.N. Bhagwati) described bonded labourers as ‘non-beings, exiles of
civilisation living a life -worse than that of animals’, for the animals are at least free to roam about as they like and
they can plunder or garb food whenever they are hungry, but these outcastes of society are held in bondage and
robbed of their freedom even.

• It is estimated that there are about 32 lakh bonded labourers in India. Of these, 98 per cent are said to be bonded
due to indebtedness and 2 per cent due to customary social obligations. The highest number is believed to exist in
three states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, followed by Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya
Pradesh.

• Forced Labour and Policy options: The Supreme Court of India has interpreted bonded labor as the payment of
wages that are below the prevailing market wage or the legal minimum wage. The suggestion has also been posited
that “learn and earn” policies, which combine work and school
• Recent Example, July 2014- Two runaways from bonded labour in brick kiln- right hands were axed. From
Chhatisgarh, taken to Hyderabad to work in Kilns