POVERTY & AGRICULTURE SECTOR

British Rule: Adverse Effect on Living Standard of Indians

1. British Government systematically destroyed Indian industries. Their primary motive behind the de-industrialization was two-fold:

• To get raw materials (like cotton, jute, etc.) from India at cheap rates to be used by upcoming modern industries in Britain.
• To sell finished products (like cotton cloth) of British industries in the Indian market at higher prices.

2. More than 70% of Indians were engaged in agriculture throughout the British Raj period. British policies raised rural taxes, which enabled merchants and moneylenders to become large landowners.

3. Under British rule, India began to export food grains. It was responsible for frequent famines and as many as 26 million people died in famines between 1875 and 1900.

4. In short, the British Raj made the miserable conditions for people in India. Their main goal was to provide a market for British exports, to have India service its debt payments to Britain, and for India to provide labor for the British imperial armies.

Agriculture: Still the Principal Means of Livelihood

1. Low success rate of Land Ceiling: Since independence, the government has opted to redistribute land through the land ceiling. Land Ceiling refers to fixing the specified limited land, which could be owned by an individual. Beyond the specified limit, all lands belonging to a particular person would be taken over by the Government and will be allotted to landless cultivators and small farmers. However, this move was successful only to a limited extent because
   • Large sections of agricultural workers were not able to farm the smallholdings dues lack of money or skills, and
   • Landholdings were too small to be viable.
   • Most of the Indian states failed to implement land redistribution policies.
2. Majority of small and marginal farmers: A large section of the rural poor in India is the small farmers. personal consumption.
   • The land that they have is generally less fertile and dependent on rains.
   • Their survival depends on subsistence crops like wheat and sometimes on livestock Subsistence agriculture is self-sufficiency farming in which the farmers focus on growing enough food to feed themselves and their families.
3. Fragmentation of land holdings: With the rapid growth of population and without alternative sources of employment, the per-head availability of land for cultivation has steadily declined

• It has led to fragmentation of land holdings.
• The income from these small land holdings is not sufficient to meet the family's bus requirements. It has led to distress among the farmers.