SOCIOLOGY

RURAL SOCIETY

INTRODUCTION

In India nearly 70%of the population lives in rural areas also known as Countryside or village. A rural community is constituted of a Homogeneous group of people residing in a definite geographical

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Area having low density of population who lead a simple

Life ,having primariy relationships and oral tradition and share a Common mode of consciousness , common economy , common way Of dressing,habits, foods, manners etc.

CHARACTERISTICS

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

• SMALL SIZE – THE RURAL SOCITIES ARE SMALLER IN AREA THAN THE URBAN SOCITIES. A RURAL SOCITIES SMALL IN SIZE HENCE THE POPULATION IS ALSO LESS
• SOCIAL HOMOGENEITY – RURAL AREAS ARE HOMOGENEOUS IN NATURE . THERE LIFE IS VERY SMOOTH AND SIMPLE. MOST OF THE INHABITANTS ARE CONNECTED

IN AGRICULTURE AND ITS ALLIED OCCUPATION.

• STATUS OF WOMEN- WOMEN IN THE INDIAN RURAL CONTEXT

ARE VERY MUCH DEPENDENT ON THEIR MEN FOLK. THEY ARE

OFTEN ENGAGED IN THEIR INDOOR ACTIVITIES. HOWEVER, BESIDES

PERFORMING DOMESTIC WORKS THEY ALSO WORK IN FIELDS WITH THEIR

MEN FOLK.

• INTIMATE RELATIONS- IN RURAL AREAS FACE TO FACE

RELATIONS ARE FOUND .EVERY PERSON KNOW EACH OTHER.

• SOCIAL CONTROL- VILLAGE IS AN ORGANIZED UNIT OF AN

AGRARIAN SOCIETY. THE PEOPLE IS DOMINATED BY TRADITIONAL

MORES AND INFORMAL SOCIAL PRESSURE

• OCCUPATIONS- AGRICULTURE IS THE PRIMARILY OCCUPATION

OF THE RURAL SOCIETY AND FORMS THE MAJOR BASIS OF RURAL ECONOMY . MOST OF THE RURAL PEOPLE ARE ENGAGED IN AGRICULTURE

• RELIGION-THE RURAL SOCIETY IS CONSIDERED TO BE A

RELIGI0US SOCIETY. ONE OF THE SIGNIFICANT FEATURES OF RURAL LIFE IS ITS DOMINATION BY RITUALS.

• SOCIAL MOBILITY- IN RURAL AREAS MOBILITY IS EXTREMELY

LIMITED AS ALL THE OCCUPATIONS ARE BASED ON CASTE.

FAMILY SYSTEM IN RURAL SOCIETY

Family is the basic unit of society. It is the oldest ,most prevalent And enduring social institution which is found everywhere in the world. In Indian villages , families prevail and endure as the basic Institution. The rural society is marked by the patriarchal joint Family which is father-centered. The eldest male member of the Family looks after the family affairs.

ACCORDING TO DR IRVATI KARVE – “ joint family is a group of people who generally live under one roof, who eat food cooked at one hearth, who hold property in common, who participate in common family worship and who are related to each other as some particular type of kindred”.

THERE ARE SOME MAJOR FEATURES OF JOINT FAMILIES AS FOLLOWS ;

• The size of joint family is big.
• It consist of people of at least three or more generations such as grandparents , parents

and children.

• They eat the food prepared jointly in the common kitchen.
• They hold common property and the head of the family manages the family property.
• Members of the family normally reside together under the same household.

MARRIAGE SYSTEM IN RURAL SOCIETY

• Marriage is more simply a legalized sexual union between a Men and women, it is socially acknowledged and approved Relationship . In the rural society, a marriage is considered to be Absolutely essential. It is not considered a union between two Individuals but a bond between two families, kin group and Communities. Monogamy is the most prevalent form of marriage

Of Hindus in rural society. Among the Hindus the marriage is prohibited In the same Gotra. For the selection of mate the individual wishes are not

Taken into consideration . There are certain specific aspects, which are exclusively Rural with regard to the institution of marriage.

_{This Photo by Unknown A}uthor is ^{licensed under CC BY-NC-ND}

POLITICAL SYSTEM IN RURAL SOCIETY

The organization , administration and all kinds of progress of

The rural communities in india, is based on village panchayats. The village panchayats are the pillars that support the Indian Rural social system. A panchayat is led by the headman who Maintains peace and order in the village . It settles disputes Among the villagers and look after the matters of common Concern for the village population.

THE ACT PROVIDES FOR A THREE TIER OF PANCHAYATI RAJ IN EVERY STATE

1. Gram Panchayat at the village level.
2. Panchayat Samiti at the block level.
3. Zila Parishad at the District level.

INDEBTEDNESS

One of the major problem of rural society is indebtedness . The reason for the indebtedness are poverty and deficit economy. The problem is not related to just one individual but passed on from the one generation to the next generation.

Taking debt for the purpose of agricultural production is indeed necessary as it contributes to production . However rural people incur debts for non-productive purposes such as to meet the family needs , to perform social functions ( related to

marriage , birth and death) . Since money borrowed does not contribute to

production but rather to consumption , it drags the rural people into indebtedness.

CAUSES OF INDEBTEDNESS

• POVERTY – The crucial cause of the rural indebtedness in India is the extreme poverty of the farmers.
• ANCESTRAL DEBT- The most important cause of the existing rural indebtedness is the ancestral debt. Many agriculturalists start their career with a heavy burden of ancestral debt and drag the loan for the whole of their lives, taking it to be a religious and social obligations.
• LITIGATION- Litigation is another major cause of rural Indebtedness . Agriculturalists are generally involved in various kinds of disputes such as intra family disputes theft to crops and division of ancestral lands , property etc.
• BACKWARDNESS OF AGRICULTURE – Indian agriculture is an uncertain business. It virtually depends on unreliable rains for the supply of water.
• EXTRAVAGENT EXPENDITURE- Being bound to custom and tradition the rural people consider the expenses on the occasion for marriage, birth, death and on some religious obligations as unavoidable.
• HIGH RATE OF INTEREST –The high rate of interest on their loans force the cultivators to borrow more and more.
• EXCESS BURDEN OF LAND REVENUE AND RENT- Land revenue levied by the government in some states is becoming an expensive burden upon small farmers.

CONSEQUENCES OF INDEBTEDNESS

• ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES- Due to ever rising debt, the farmer loses interest in agricultural production, which results in low agricultural production and income . The farmer is forced to sell all the produce to the moneylender and is deprived of selling the produce in the open market and obtaining the prices of the market.
• SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES- The relations between the moneylenders and the farmers become venomous and poison the village social life. Therefore, the social groups in the village get divided into two classes – the exploiting class and the exploited class.
• POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES- The indebted farmers are treated by the moneylenders as commodities. The moneylenders use them as their private property. Since their economic position is not sound they do not have a political status of their own.

THE GREEN REVOLUTION

THE GREEN REVOLUTION IN INDIA WAS A PERIOD DURING WHICH AGRICULTURE IN INDIA INCREASED ITS YIELDS DUE TO IMPROVED AGRONOMIC TECHNOLOGY. IT CHIEFLY REFERS TO THE BREAKTHROUGH ACCOMPANIED BY SUDDEN INCREASE IN THE YIELD PER ACE AS A RESULT OF INTRODUCING HIGH YIELDING

VARIETIES {HYVN OF SEEDS AND SEEDLINGS, INCREASED

APPLICATION OF THE RECOMMENDED CHEMICAL FERTILIZER IN THE AREAS WITH ASSURED WATER SUPPLY , ADOPTION OF MECHANIZED FARMING AND USE OF PESTICIDES . PROF . M. S. SWAMINATHAN IS CONSIDERED AS FATHER OF GREEN REVOLUTION IN INDIA.

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COMPONENTS OF GREEN REVOLUTION

• The use of high yielding varieties of seeds contributed to augmented production
• The use of chemicals, fertilizers , pesticides also played a key role in boosting agricultural

production.

• The use of modern agricultural machines like tractors , harvesters , threshers etc led to greatly

enhanced agricultural outputs.

• More and more irrigational facilities were made a accessible to farmers and these added to the

agricultural outputs.

• The adoption of double and multiple cropping also helped the cause of increased agricultural production.

IMPACT OF GREEN REVOLUTION

POSITIVE IMPACT

• BOOSTED THE PRODUCTION OF CEREALS- The major achievement of new strategy was to boost the production of major cereals, wheat and rice. The ratio of wheat to rice steadily increased from one- third in1960-61 to 84 percent in 1999 -2000.This means even though rice continues to be the most important cereal in the country, wheat was catching up fast.
• INCREASE IN THE PRODUCTION OF COMMERCIAL CROPS-The green

revolution mainly directed to increase the production of food grains. It did not effect initially the production of commercial crops or cash crops such as sugarcane , cotton , jute, oilseeds and potatoes. These crops did not record any significant improvement initially.

• SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN CROP PATTERN- As a result of the green revolution the crop pattern in India underwent two significant changes. Firstly the output of cereals rose at the rate of 3 to 4 percent per annum but the output of pulses remain declined. Secondly among the cereals output came down from 48 percent to 45 percent between 1950-51 and 2008-2009.

NEGATIVE IMPACT

• GROWTH OF CAPTIALISTIC FARMING IN INDIA- The new agricultural strategy consisted of heavy investment in seeds , fertilizers , pesticides and water. These heavy investments were beyond the capacity of small and medium farmers.
• WIDENING DISPARITIES IN INCOME-The technological changes in agriculture had adverse effects on the distribution of income in rural areas. Technological changes have contributed to widening the disparities in income between different regions , between small and large farms and between landowners on the one land.
• PROBLEM OF LABOUR DISPLACEMENT- Green revolution unaccompanied by a massive program of rural industrialization caused nothing but frustration among the large mass of Indian peasantry.

CHANGES IN RURAL SOCIETY

• CHANGES IN CASTE SYSTEM-DURING THE BRITISH RULE THE CASTE SYSTEM SUFFERED A SEVERE SETBACK IN THE VILLAGES. DUE TO BRITISH ECONOMIC POLICY AND NEW LAWS DIFFERENT CASTES ABANDONED THEIR OCCUPATIONS AND ADOPTED OTHER PROFESSIONS.
• JAJMANI SYSTEM- THE JAJMANI SYSTEM A FEATURE OF VILLAGE SOCIETY IN INDIA HAS NOW WEAKENED DUE TO GOVERNMENTAL EFFORTS TO RAISE THE STATUS OF THE LOWER CASTES AND DUE TO THE IMPACT OF MODERNIZATION AND GLOBALIZATION.
• FAMILY- THE JOINT FAMILY SYSTEM IS NO LONGER THE PECULIAR CHARACTERISTIC OF VILLAGE SOCIETY. ALTHOUGH, THE JOINT FAMILIES ARE STILL VIEWED WITH RESPECT, THEY ARE NO LONGER THE UNIT OF RURAL COMMUNITY, HAVING BEEN REPLACED BY NUCLEAR FAMILIES.
• CULTURE- THE CLOTHES WORN BY THE POPULATION IN THE VILLAGES ARE UNDERGOING CHANGE. BOTH AMONG THE WOMEN AND MEN , WESTERN DRESS IS REPLACING THE NATIVE WEAR.
• EDUCATION- LITERACY IS INCREASING AMONG THE INHABITANTS OF THE VILLAGE. BASIC EDUCATION AND SOCIAL EDUCATION ARE INCREASING AS MANY OF THE STATES ARE MAKING EFFORTS TO PROVIDE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN THE VILLAGE.

CONCLUSION

• In this chapter we concentrated on the rural society. we have discussed the institutions of family, marriage , political system as well as problems of rural community such as indebtedness and the adverse impact of the green revolution. In this section on indebtedness we discussed its causes and consequences. Similarly discussion on green revolution focused on its causes and its impacts. Further the above noted changes clearly indicate that the Indian village community of toady is not the same as it was in old times. A new pattern of life and social relationships has emerged in rural society.