CHAPTER II - Shodhganga : a reservoir of Indian...
Transcript of CHAPTER II - Shodhganga : a reservoir of Indian...
CHAPTER II
AGRARIAN CHANGE AND MOBILISATION IN WESTERN UTTAR PRADESH: EMERGENCE OF THE BHARTIYA KISAN UNION
The farmers movement led by the Bhartiya Kisan Union
(BKU) in western Uttar Pradesh (UP) is in many ways similar
to the movements in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and
Punjab. The BKU raised the same issues and had similar
goals. Moreover western UP, like the other parts of the
country, where farmers were mobilised through agitational
politics, is an area where commercialisation and capitalism
was first to penetrate agriculture. But the Upper Doab
region of western UP, had specific economic, social, and
political conditions, which shaped the nature and character
of the farmers movement in western UP.
Uttar Pradesh (UP), with 16.44 per cent of India's
population, 1 sends the largest number of members of Parlia-
ment (85), thus exercising a decisive role in the formation
of government at the centre. Geography alone assures its
position as the agricultural heartland. UP comprises almost
half the Gangetic plain, one of the most fertile tracts in
the world. Economically the state is backward, 82.1 per cent
of the population lives in rural areas. With a slow space
56
NAP s:r
LOCATION- MAP Of WESTERN UTTAR
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MADHYA -~tawah . o~ PRADESH ·" _) ~ '-... """-. -v ('
\ Ja\Ou
PRADESH
of industrial development, the state is predominantly de-
pendent on agriculture. In agro-economic terms, UP can be
divided into 5 regions: (i) the northern hills, (ii) western
UP, (iii) central UP, (iv) Bundelkhand and (v) eastern UP. 2
The 19 districts of western UP, (see map 2.1) is economical-
ly and agriculturally the most advanced region, followed by
the central and eastern districts, the hill districts and
finally Bundelkhand.
TABLB 2.1: RBGIONWISK SOMK KCONOMIC INDICATORS OF UP
Region Per Capita Cropping % of Net Fertilizer % of Wor- Per Capita No. of % of Ble- Per Capi-
Gross Va- Intensity Irriga- used per kers in Value of Persons ctricity ta elec-
lue of Ag- 1983-84 tion Area Hect. of Agricul- Industrial per lakh used in tricity
ricultural Sown Cropped ture to Production of popu- Agricul- consumed
Produce 1983-84 Area (kg) Total 1982-83 lation in ture to (KHW)
1982-83 Workers Reg. Fac- Total 1982-83
(1981) tories Blectri-
1982-83 city used
1982-83
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Eastern 635 146.59 54.59 65.85 79.1 272.43 281 24.97 100.90
Hill 851 160.36 29.53 46.20 69.2 344.41 421 6.82 105.35
Bundelkhand 901 112.14 24.41 18.95 78.3 133.94 188 33.82 35.15
Western 920 152.79 75.52 80.02 69.1 917.36 932 42.58 112.30
Central 709 141.58 51.84 61.96 75.7 528.26 733 13.05 103.73
UP 772 144.76 57.18 65.63 74.5 542.90 594 29.03 102.12
Source: Kripa Shankar, UP in Statistics, Ashish Pub. House, 1987: 56, Table 30.
57
Table 2.I shows that by 1982-83, western UP had the
highest cropping intensity, (152.79), highest percentage of
net irrigated area to net sown area (75.52), highest per
capita gross value of agricultural produce (Rs.152.79) and
lowest percentage of workers dependent on agriculture
(69.1). As compared to the other regions of UP it was far
ahead in industrial production, with the highest per-capita
value of industrial production (Rs.917.36), and with highest
number of persons per-lakh of population working in regis
tered factories (932) . But within western UP, the Upper Doab
region consisting of districts, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar,
Meerut, Gaziabad, Bulandsahar, parts of Aligarh, Mathura,
Bijnore and Moradabad, 3 had a different agrarian, social,
economic and political conditions which played an important
role in the mobilisation of the farmers in late 1980's.
Western UP, before the Mughal rule was marked by
instability and conflict. The Upper Doab was settled by Jat
peasant communities. 4 M.C. Pradhan found that these peasant
communities expanded its territory during the 14th century
by capturing villages held by Muslims. Quite often they
even purchased the entire village. 5 The Upper Doab during
this time had low agricultural yields and low population
58
density conditions. It was drier, less secure tract, with
considerable extensive rather than intensive cultivation.
These conditions were largely responsible for the growth of
peasant proprietors, 6 who cultivated their own land under a
system of bhaiyachara tenure. It was a system where customs
(chara) was observed by a community (bhia) for the manage-
ment and distribution of land. 7 The bhaiyachara communities
colonised an area after capturing or purchasing it. The
area colonised was equally divided among the members of the
bhaiyachara community. They divided this area into groups
(khaps) of 84 villages, 42 villages, 32, 25, 12 or 8 vil-
lages. There was a hereditary headman of a khap (clan)
called Chaudhary. 8
The increase in the number of descendents and cessation
of colonisation led to the division of the bhaiyachara
villages into thoks (maximal lineage) Likewise land was
equally divided into thoks and within the thok it was fur
ther divided into equal shares among peasants inhabiting a
thok. 9 But the land was not owned communally in the bhaiya
chara villages. Under this system the peasants had individ-
ual and hereditary rights on the land. Land could be sold
only within a patti or thok. The right to alienation did
59
not exist outside the patti or thok. 10
This system to some extent was also adopted by other
cultivating castes holding land in the area, i.e., Gujjars,
Tyagis, and Jat Muslims, which is evident from the fact that
even today all the khap chaudries, of Balyan khap are based
in Sisauli (Muzaffarnagar) . 11 Jats, Gujjars, Tyagis and
Muslims therefore in this period consolidated and spread
their control on land in the Upper Doab region.
With the establishment of the Mughal rule, relations
between the central authority and these village communities
was regularised. Many village councils of the Upper Doab
received charters recognising their authority in village
affairs and entrusting them with the collection of
revenue. 12 The choudharies were entrusted with these re-
sponsibilities. The bhaiyachara system of land tenure did
not allow these chaudaries to enhance their personal wealth
and become a landlord class. Unlike eastern UP local lords
and zamindars were not a norm among these more egalitarian
peasant communities of the Upper Doab. The higher echelons
of jagirdars and mansabdars were subject to periodic trans
fers and reappointments, preventing them from establishing
feudal proprietary rights over any area. 13
60
When Upper Doab came under the control of the British
in early 19th century, land was settled (during early set
tlements) with the primary zamindars, ignoring the claims of
the local rajas and jagirdars. 14 Hence, a cohesive and
aristocratic class with large estates could not develop in
the Upper Doab. Even the agricultural condition (low pro-
duction and yields) in the western districts were not condu
cive to the entrenchment of a strong parasitic landlord
class. 15
On the contrary, the eastern region was agriculturally
secure. Founded upon rch soil, reliable rainfall and easily
utilised groundwater, great commercial centres came up along
the river routes. To name a few Benaras, Mirzapur and
Azamgarh were among the prominent trading centres. Along-
with rice, sugarcane, indigo, cotton and opium were the cash
crops. 16 A large number of local zamindars, mainly Rajputs,
Brahmins, and Bhumihars controlled a large area of land.
They remained a petty landlord class, driven close to the
soil but still continuing to exploit it through lower caste
sub-tenants and bonded labourers.
The notion of alienable private property in land was
introduced by colonial laws in the early 19th century.
61
Along with this, high revenue demands from the British
government forced many Upper Doab peasant proprietors to
sell their proprietary rights and cultivate their ancestral
fields as tenants. This enabled the rural elite to profit
from the hardships of the cultivators and few large estates
were established, i.e., the Jat raja of Kuchesar in Meerut
district, the Landhaurah raja in Saharanpur, the Jansath
Sayyids in Muzaffarnagar etc. 17 The peasant proprietors
though under pressure was not completely uprooted, they
retained a capacity for resistance. Their discontent soon
found expression in the mutiny of 1857, when the Jat peas
ants of Muzaffarnagar, Meerut and Saharanpur revolted
against the British. 1 8
The post-mutiny years saw a sharp rise in the fortune
of peasant cultivators and a corresponding decline in the
importance of rural elite in the Upper Doab. The British
constructed several gigantic canal systems in the drier
western part of UP. These include the upper Ganga canal
(1864-65), lower Ganga canal (1877-78), eastern Yamuna canal
(1878) and Agra canal (1877-78) 19 . State investment in the
form of canal irrigation facilitated higher productivity
through concentration upon cash crop production in the
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western districts, especially sugarcane and wheat. The
cropping pattern shown in table 2.2 reveals that the eastern
districts grew largely food crops. Compared with Meerut and
Muzaffarnagar they grew less than half the area of sugarcane
(with the exception of Gorakhpur), a quarter or less of the
area of wheat, no cotton and only one or two districts grew
a significant area of oilseed. Ian Stone found that moving
down the Doab the proportion of the cash crops undoubtedly
diminished. 20
Table 2.2: Comparison of Crop Patterns in the eastern and Western UP: averages of 1908-9/1909-10 crop areas in respresentative districts in percentage of net culivated area
Major Crops Western Districts Eastern Districts
Muzaffarnagar Meerut Benaras Gorakhpur
Rice 6 2 25 42 Wheat 34 30 7 13 Barley 5 7 23 18 Gram 13 13 10 6 Other Foodgrains 20 24 35 36 Sugarcane Cotton Oil seeds
Source:
11 10 4 4 4 8
5
Returns of the Agricultural Statistics of British India 1905-6/1909-10. Cited in Ian Stone, Canal Irrigation in nological change 1984) 1 p.282.
India: Prospectives as techin ~ peasant economy (Cambridge,
63
This change in cropping pattern in the western dis
tricts due to canal irrigation and more intensive cultiva
tion allowed the expansion of commercialisation of agricul-
ture in the Upper Doab. At the same time the introduction
of railways in 1870s in western UP widened the market for
gur, cotton and wheat. Ghaziabad, Hapur, Meerut, Shamli,
Deoband, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Hathras etc. developed
into major wheat mandis (markets), whereas Baghpat, Khekra,
and Dankaur emerged as gur and shakar markets. 21
It was the peasant proprietors of the bhaiyachara vil
lages, who because of their community solidarity, were the
first to receive the largest share of the canal water. The
railways and the market system further created a situation
of labour scarcity. This helped to maintain the tradition
of family labour among the peasant proprietors, which could
bring highest returns in agriculture. The agricultural
dynamism of western UP, consolidated the position of the
peasant proprietors of the Upper Doab.
The eastern districts had no canal system. Moreover
because of the zamindari system of land-tenure, sub
infudation, subdivision and fragmentation of land, there
emerged a large class of tenants. The British had in fact
64
created categories of protected occupancy and sub
proprietary tenants in the pre-mutiny years. But after 1857
the colonial administration brought several tenancy laws
into force which severely curtailed landlord rights to
increase rents and guaranted a substantial pattern of ten
ants with almost unassailable and heritable security and
tenure. This process began with the North-western Provinces
Act XII of 1881, which prevented landlords from purchasing
tenants rights of occupancy. While Act XIV of 1886 permit-
ted accrual of occupancy rights even when a tenant moved
from one plot to another, the Oudh Rent Act XXII fixed the
rent for every seven years. Then followed in succession,
the Western Provinces Tenancy Act of 1901 (similar in con
tent to the Oudh Rent Act) and the Agra Rent Act of 1926,
culminating ultimately in the UP Tenancy Act of 1939 which
provided the background for zamindari abolition in the post
independence period. 22
These laws failed to strengthen the tenants of the
central and eastern UP, but were successful in the Upper
Doab region. We have already seen that the essence of
bhaiyachara tenure was the exclusion of landlords forms
within the village or neighbourhood community. Theoretical
ly, the bhaiyachara tenure admits no tributary tenant or
65
quasi-tenant body, and the proprietor and cultivators are
identical. But few Rajputs, Pathans and Sayyids, being too
indolent and proud to cultivate themselves inclined towards
pattidari tenures. Thus, when Henry Elliot settled Meerut
in the mid 1830s, he found few tenants in the western dis-
tricts. In Saharanpur, for instance in 1870, there was
hardly any distinction between the rent paying tenant and
the revenue paying proprietor. 23 This was because apart from
the legal protection the tenants of the Upper Doab enjoyed
their communal solidarity. In fact the Jat cultivators were
able to extend their control over rented land in a manner
that approximated proprietorship. Ian Stone cites the case
of Gujjar communities of tehsil Budhana and Rajput tenants
of Khatauli (Muzaffarnagar), the former withstanding the
attempts of their new landlords to raise prevailing rents,
while the latter restricted competition for village lands by
not allowing tenants of other villages to cultivate there.
Even on the great Kuchesar estate a settlement official
found the occupancy tenant community referring his occupancy
land as hamare (ours) . 24
Towards the end of British rule and even before zamind
ari abolition there was a substantial number of medium and
66
small peasant proprietors in the Upper Doab region, who paid
a substantial amount of revenue. In Meerut there were 26
zamindars with only 8 per cent of the area, paying revenue
more than Rs.500 annually. In Saharanpur, there were only 5
zamindars and in Muzaffarpur only 7 had been paying more
than Rs.5oo 25 . In Upper Doab middle and small cultivators,
were of middle castes, i.e., Jats, Gujars, Tyagis, and Jat
Muslims, 36 per cent owned holdings of 5 to 25 acres and 18
per cent of the area, while another 13 per cent farms of 25
acre and more and 13 per cent of the ara. 26 But the middle
caste/class, i.e., Yadavs, Kurmis, Koeris, Kachis and Lodhs
of other parts of UP remained tenants who could not manage
to ensure a surplus from their crops because of rising rents
and other exactions, by the landlords. The lower caste
tenants had neither a security of tenure nor sufficient
surplus for subsistence. Their deteriorating economic
conditions in 1920s and 1930s made possible their large
scale mobilisation by the Indian National Congress, and
Communist party through kisan sabhas. Several studies have
documented that in the central and eastern UP, peasants
revolted against the zamindars and their colonial masters
for right to land, tenancy rents etc., 27 whereas this type
of peasant movement did not occur in western UP.
67
The Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act of 1951,
aimed at eliminating the former system of tax farming by
removing the zamindars and talukdars from their position of
intermediaries between the cultivators and the state. It
aimed at bringing the actual tiller of the soil in direct
contact with the state. It also aimed to reorganise agri-
culture on co-operative lines. 28 As a result, the interme
diaries lost their right to collect rent and the existing
more than 22 types of tenure were converted into four, i.e.,
Bhumidhars, Sirdhars, Asami and Adivasi. The bhumidhars had
permanent heritable and transferable rights over the land.
Their revenue was reduced to half. The sirdhars were given
permanent and heritable rights, but they were denied trans
ferable right over land and were not entitled to use it for
non-agricultural purposes. However, sirdhars were entitled
to become bhumidhars after paying ten times of their rent to
the state. Asamis had only heritable, but not transferable
rights. They were liable to eviction in case they were the
tenants of students, mentally or physically handicapped
persons and serving in defence. Adhivasis were the tenants
in sir and khudkast land which came under personal cultiva-
tion. They were entitled to become sirdhars or bhumidhars
after 5 years of commencement of the act on payment of 15
68
times of the rent, failing which they were liable to eject
ment.29
The Zamindari Abolition and Land Reform Act of UP 1951
(UPZALA) had different impact on different parts of UP. In
the eastern and central UP the pre-existing patterns of
subinfeudation of land rights either allowed the zamindars
to legalise their own family and subtenurial rights into the
new bhumidhari or sirdari rights, mostly through conversion
permitted by law. The class of traders and moneylenders,
who under the zamindari system had developed subtenurial
rights in land were now able to pay the required compensa
tion to buy titles as bhumidhars or sirdhars. By and large,
land rights seldom went to the direct cultivator, who in
most cases was either not in an economic position to pay the
compensation or was not recognised as tenants by law.30
In western districts and particularly Upper Doab, where
a large number of rich and middle caste/class of peasant
proprietors had emerged among Jats, Gujars, Tyagis, etc.,
the impact of the UPZAL 1951 was different. M.C. Pradhan
provides an account of a panchayat (meeting) held in Novem
ber 1949 of the Balayan Khap in Muzaffarnagar District.
This panchayat of all the agricultural castes of the area
69
was called to discuss the implications of the UPZALA and
its effect on the farmers. A resolution was passed by the
panchayat calling upon the farmers of the khap area to pay
the required money in order to claim proprietary rights in
the agricultural land, which they tilled as tenants of the
landlords. 31 The panchayat was successful as most of the
farmers paid the required amount to acquire property rights.
This success was because of the ability of the panchayat
leaders to remove suspicion and fear from the minds of the
farrners. 32 In the Upper Doab and particularly the Meerut
division, peasant proprietorship soon became the order of
the day, with as much as 60.5 per cent of the cultivable
land in Meerut division and 71.08 per cent of that in Meerut
district corning under bhurnidari tenure_33 Table 2.1 (appen
dix) shows that the Upper Doab had the highest percentage of
households of proprietors (95.81) and lowest percentage of
tenants 1.16, as compared to other regions of UP
UPZALA 1951 further consolidated the holdings of the
emerging rich and middle caste/class in western UP. Studies
have concluded that in the bhaiyachara areas, it had little
impact. Its objective to remove intermediaries and intro-
duce peasant proprietorship was virtually redundant, as
70
there were few intermediaries, and a large section of them
were already enjoying the ownership right over their land.
For instance in Meerut district, where 83 per cent of land
was under the bhiyachara. The smaller tenants, either
purchased their bhumidari rights or in 1954 became bhumid
hars directly without paying the 10 times of their rent. 34
Baljit Singh, in a study conducted in the late 1950s, shows
that the percentage of the peasant households which received
direct bhumidhari rights without paying 10 times of rent was
higher in western UP than in central and eastern UP. It was
still higher in Meerut than in other districts of UP. They
formed 52 per cent of households in western UP, 31 per cent
in central and eastern UP, and 71 per cent of the households
in Meerut district. 35 Hence the ownership pattern in Meerut
district was not altered much. Similarly Table 2.3 shows
that in the case of Muzaffarnagar there was hardly any
change in this respect during the decade 1951-61 of land
reform implementation. Zoya Hasan similarly found that the
areas of Iglas and Khair in Aligarh district which had
bhaiyachara tenure was not much affected by the UPZALA-
1951.36
71
Table 2.3: Muzaffarnagar 1951-61: Distribution of Land by Size Class
Size Class Area Cumulative (per cent) in acres
1951 1961
Less than 1.0 17.89 19.64 1.0 to 5.0 54.51 54.48 5.0 to 10.0 78.06 79.33
10.0 to 15.0 88.41 89.47 15.0 to 20.0 95.69 96.30 20.0 to 25.0 99.31 99.44 25.0 & above 100.00 100.00
Source: Census of India: 1951, i961, cited in Kai Fruse, "Peasant Communities and Agrarian Capitalism", EPW, Sept. 29, 1990.
In the bhiyachara region of the upper doab, i.e.,
Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Bulandshahr, Chandpur and
Kiratpur areas of Bijnor, Khair and Iglis telsil of Aligarh,
Moradabad, and parts of Mathura, the number of rich and
middle peasant castes slightly increased with the zamindari
abolition.
The UP consolidation of Holdings Act 1953 proved to be
more beneficial to the rich and middle caste/class cultiva-
tors of Upper Doab than the UPZALA of 1951. They bribed the
consolidation staff and took the best land at the location
of their choice. The poor peasants of lower castes were
given unfertile land.37 Land consolidation caused more
72
efficient cultivation possible. Needless to say it clearly
assumes greater sigificance for the middle and large land
holders who were now in a position to make effective use of
the new agricultural inputs. The bigger farmers received
wider range of opportunities to adopt some forms of mechani
sation.38
The community development, panchayati raj and co-opera
tive programmes aimed to help the small, marginal landhold
ers and agricultural labourers, instead benefited the rich
class/caste farmers. When these programmes failed to bene-
fit the marginal, small farmers and agricultural labourers,
the government of UP imposed a ceiling on land and redistri-
bution of surplus land to the landless. But by the time
land ceiling act was passed in 1960 and again in 1970s, the
rich caste/class peasant proprietors of western UP had
retained large tracts under sir and khudkasht tenure for
self-cultivation. They dominated the rural society and
occupied seats in the state legislature. 39
Defective nature of the legislation, high ceiling
limit, non-availability of surplus land, lack of interest on
the part of Congress politicians and connivance of the
bureaucrats with the rural rich made the ceiling laws redun-
73
dant. Our field work in 8 villages of Meerut and Muzaffar-
nagar reveals that out of 732 scheduled caste households,
only 87 got patta land below 1 acre, 50 per cent of the land
distributed to them were uneconomical holdings and uncultiv-
able land. Moreover, 20 per cent of those who received
pattas in 1970s, still do not have possession of their
land. 40 For many it proved to be disadvantageous as on the
one hand, it kept them under the illusion that they were
land owners, discouraging them to find other means of live
lihood on the other hand it increased their harrassment and
intimidation by the landowning caste/class.
The strategy to raise production and make rural UP
egalitarian through institutional changes did not succeed.
On the contrary in the 1960s India became dependent on
import of foodgrains from the United States. To overcome
this situation the Central government under Indira Gandhi
introduced new technology in agriculture. It aimed to
increase the total production and production per hectare of
major crops, i.e., wheat, rice, maize etc. This strategy
was called as green revolution.
The very nature of the green revolution package re
quired certain pre-requisites, i.e., infrastructure facili-
74
ties in the form of assured water supply, modern inputs,
fertilizers, pesticides, transport and communication linking
the markets, banking facilities, distribution of loans,
support prices and a large number of middle and rich peas
ants who had the economic resources to adopt the new tech-
nology. In northern India Punjab, Haryana, western UP and
within western UP, the Upper Doab as we have discussed above
possessed infrastructural facilities to ensure the success
of the new technology package. With the introduction of new
technology, UP made considerable progress in agriculture.
Though the share of agriculture sector in the total domestic
production declined due to the upward trend in the secondary
sector. Yet, its contribution to the total income in 1976-
1977 was about 50.8 per cent. 41 Until the mid-1960s UP
experienced slow agriculture growth, but in mid-1970s, it
became a major foodgrain producing state in the Union.
Total production of foodgrains in UP increased from
144.9 lakh tonnes in 1960-61 to 199.09 lakh tonnes in 1976-
77 and 303 lakh tonnes in 1986-87. 42 Its contribution to
the total foodgrain production in 1986-87 in the country was
20.7 per cent. 43 UP by 1986-87 had the highest relative
percentage area under rice 13.3 per cent, wheat 36 per cent,
75
sugarcane 53.3 per cent and total foodgrains 16.2 per cent
among all the states of the Union. It accounted for 35.3
per cent of the total wheat production in the country, 12.4
per cent of rice and 43.8 per cent of sugarcane. 44
The western region of UP comprising 19 districts wit-
nessed faster growth than other parts of the state. Many
studies have documented the uneven spread of the green
revolution technology in UP. 45 But within western UP, it
was the Doab region with infrastructural resources suited to
the conducive adoption of the green revolution, which saw a
rapid growth and faster assimilation of the green revolution
technology. Table 2.4 shows that Meerut (44.18 per cent)
and Muzaffarnagar with 43.47 per cent of area under HYV, to
gross cultivated area of four major crops, had the largest
amount of area under HYV in 1970-73. ( Map 2.2 Appendix )
shows that the spread of HYV areas was maximum in the Doab
districts. Only Rampur and Pilibhit districts outside the
Doab had high HYV area by 1978-1981.
76
Table 2.4: Districtwise Percentage of Area under HYV Seeds in western UP for 1970-75 and 1978-81 (percentage of area under HYV to Gross cultivated area of four HYV crops)
District 1970-73 1988-81
1. Saharanpur 32.33 65.80 2 . Muzaffarnagar 4'3 .47 78.41 3. Meerut + Ghaziabad 44.18 67.67 4. Bulandshahr 38.85 60.62 5. Aligarh 37.33 34.61 6 . Mathur a 37.70 74.89 7. Agra 30.30 58.25 8 . Mainpuri 38.79 45.76 9 . Etah 29.34 44.76 10. Bareilly 21.17 58.00 11. Bijnor 27.07 66.53 12. Badaun 27.43 44.32 13. Moradabad 23.27 53.81 14. Sahajahanpur 29.35 51.54 15. Pilibhit 30.22 75.98 16. Rampur 33.02 65.86 17. Farrukhabad 33.04 42.75 18. Etawah 29.04 47.66 19. Western UP 32.35 56.30
Source: i. Agricultural Census of UP, 1962 to 1981. ii. UP ka krishi ankre - 1978-79, 1979-81 and 1980-81
Directorate of Agriculture UP, Lucknow.
77
Table 2.5: Districtwise Cropping Intensity in western Uttar Pradesh, 1962-65, 1970-75 and 1978-81 in per cent
District 1962-65 1970-75 1978-81
1. Saharanpur 138.80 149.28 157.15 2. Muzaffarnagar 131.98 146.65 155.82 3 . Meerut+Ghaziabad 142.67 155.72 160.37 4. Bulandsahr 40.66 154.72 164.32 5. Aligarh 135.22 155.45 162.62 6 . Bijnor 118.16 127.70 132.31 7. Moradabad 117.56 133.03 145.00 8 . Mathur a 121.72 132.15 141.24 9 . Agra 116.99 126.25 134.48 10. Mainpuri 130.82 139.40 147.18 11. Etah 133.78 145.38 152.73 12. Bareily 127.85 132.52 142.47 13. Badaun 117.12 127.30 135.86 14. Sahajahanpur 118.19 123.53 138.76 15. Pilibhit 129.80 141.13 156.44 16. Rampur 137.04 144.73 154.30 17. Farrukhabad 127.35 134.68 145.49 18. Eta wah 126.21 139.57 139.80 19. Western UP 128.30 139.22 148.21
Source: Agriculture Census of UP, 1962 to 1981.
With the introduction of HYVs, there was a dramatic
change in the cropping intensity in western UP. The short
duration of HYV wheat varieties facilitated intensive use of
land under cultivation with double and tripple crops per
year, thus raising the level of agricultural production and
overall development. Table 2.5 shows that the average
cropping intensity in western UP by 1962-65 was 128.30 per
78
cent. It increased to 139.22 per cent in 1970-73 and 146.21
per cent in 1978-81. But in 1962-65, only Meerut and
Muzaffarnagar had the cropping intensity more than that of
the average of western UP Map 2.3 -Appendix reveals that by
1970-73, it spread to all the Doab districts and by 1978-81
even to other parts of western UP. The spread of HYV and
intensive agriculture increased the level of agricultural
productivity per hectare. Table 2.6 shows that in 1962-65,
Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Saharanpur and Bijnor had more than
Rs.1000 per hectare agricultural productivity. In 1970-73
Bulandshahr, Aligarh and Piliphit joined the high productiv-
ity districts. By 1978-81 only Agra, Etah and Badaun had
low levels of productivity per hectare. Whereas Muzaffarna
gar and Meerut had the highest level of productivity.
79
Table 2.6: District-wise Agricultural Productivity per hectare in western UP (Productivity in Rs. per hec.)
Districts 1962-65 1970-73 1978-81
1. Saharanpur 1111.46 1369.83 1671.80 2. Muzaffarnagar 1457.96 1892.28 2209.37 3 . Meerut+Ghaziabad 1228.30 1655.53 1976.76 4. Bulandsahr 607.41 1211.42 1472.06 5. Aligarh 686.59 1030.68 1247.'88 6 . Mathura 637.49 919.64 1091.83 7. Agra 612.33 704.01 912.11 8 . Mainpuri 721.88 887.62 1047.94 9 . Etah 723.45 873.62 944.58 10. Bareily 800.88 937.11 1211.18 11. Bijnor 1093.17 1382.65 1755.53 12. Badaun 684.92 955.65 936.48 13. Moradabad 825.76 992.87 1388.56 14. Sahajahanpur 707.60 897.47 1175.63 15. Pilibhit 894.51 1052.67 1443.49 16. Rampur 822.08 987.86 1427.96 17. Farrukhabad 822.48 968.06 1323.48 18. Etawah 722.19 964.39 1060.81
Source: Mahabir Chand Thakur: Spatial Determinants of Agricultural Productivity in western UP - 1962-65 to 1978-81: M.Phil dissertation, Centre for Social and Regional Development, School of Social Sciences, JNU, N.Delhi, 1983.
80
Table 2.7: Sourcewise Irrigation: In western UP
Source
Canals
Tanks
Wells Electric+ Diesel
Others
Total area
1962-65
Area in % to 000 hect. total
1120.41 50.03
26.21 1.17
1068.16 47.70
24.72 1.10
2239.50 100.00
1970-73
Area in % to 000 hect. total
1177.43 34.30
26.00 0.76
2186.81 63.72
42.03 1. 22
3932.27 100.00
1978-80
Area in % to 000 hect. total
1250 29.21
41.70 0.96
2866.20 66.98
122.08 2.85
4279.98 100.00
Source: Agricultural Censes in Uttar Pradesh 1961 to 1981 Board of Revenue Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow.
This increase in per hectare productivity and spread of
HYV was due to assured water supply through the canal system
in western UP, and especially in the Doab region. With
green revolution technology, there was a major shift in the
source of irrigation in the region. Table 2.7 shows that
upto the 1960s, canals were the main source of irrigation as
they accounted for 50.30 per cent of the total irrigated
area, while well (electric and diesel) was in second place
accounting for 47.70 per cent of the area. In the 1970s,
the well (electric+diesel) emerged as the primary source of
irrigation contributing as much as 63.72 per cent of irri-
81
gated area. The increasing use of wells was due to the
large scale introduction of electric and oil engines ln the
green revolution area. In 1975-76, western UP accounted for
about 58 per cent of the total tubewell acreage of the
state, almost twice the share of east UP. 46 Within the 19
districts of western UP Muzaffarnagar, Meerut and Buland-
sahr have the highest concentration of electric pumps, i.e.,
24.62, 26.46 and 25.69 per 1000 hecatre of gross cropped
area in 1978-81 (see Table 2.8).
Table 2.8: Districtwise Distribution of Agricultural Impliments and Machinery: 1978-81 (per 1000 hectare of Gross Cropped Area)
District
1. Saharanpur 2. Muzaffarnagar 3. Meerut+Ghaziabad 4. Bulandsahr 5. Aligarh 6. Mathura 7. Agra 8. Mainpuri 9. Etah 10. Bareily 11. Bijnor 12. Badaun 13. Moradabad 14. Shahjahanpur 15. Pilibhit 16. Rampur 17. Farrukhabad 18. Etawah 19. Western UP
Tractors
7.89 17.17
7.84 4.88 2.31 5.95 4.17 2.07 1. 67 2.79 4.85 1.34 4.70 3.28 4.88 7.75 2.99 1. 72 5.04
Oil Engines
43.42 25.37 20.02 18.29 20.51 16.52 27.67 20.94 15.97 16.22 28.22 11.44 33.35 33.45 31.16 28.35 24.19 20.86 24.25
Electric Pumps
12.37 24.62 26.46 25.69 12.05 12.26 13.16 18.36
8.84 5.85
15.07 7.80
16.28 4.42 4.35 6.93
18.63 6.02
14.16
Source: Agricultural Census in Uttar Pradesh 1961 to 1981, Board of Revenue, UP, Lucknow, UP ke krishi ankre, 1978-79, 1979-80, 1980-81, Directorate of Agriculture, UP, Lucknow.
82
Similar trend is visible with regard to other agricultural
implements and the level of mechanisation in western UP.
Increase in tractors, oil-engines, and electric pumpsets
denote the diffusion of agricultural technology, ultimately
resulting in the growth of agricultural productivity.
Moreover, agricultural production became increasingly de-
pendent on the use of chemical fertilisers. The consumption
of fertilizers increased phenomenally in western UP (see
Table 2. 9) , from 4.14 kg per hectare in 1962-65 to 26.11
kg/hectare in 1970-75 to 54.22 kg per hectare in 1978-81.
It was maximum in the Upper Doab region, i.e., Saharanpur,
Muzaffarnagar, Meerut and Bulandsahr.
Table 2.9: Districtwise Consumption of Fertiliser in western UP - Fertilizers in kg/hectare
D1str1ct
I. Saharanpur 2 . Muzaffarnagar 3. Meerut+Ghaziabad 4. Bulandshahr 5. Alirtarh 6 . Mat ura 7. Ag:ra . 8 . Ma1npur1 9. Etah 10. Bareily 11. Bi~nor 12. Ba aun 13. Moradabad 14. Shah~ahanpur 15. Pili hit 16. Rampur 17. Farrukhabad 18. Eta wah 19. Western UP
1962 65
4.38 7.40 6.52 4.50 3.85 1. 63 1. 68 2.94 2.98 3.44 4.06 3.07 5.23 1. 87 2.57 3.63 9.80 2.55 4.14
1970 75
31.4 I 47.94 45.94 28.42 19.09 11.58 21.26 20.19 17.51 22.16 27.99 17.76 24.30 15.61 22.19 35.24 35.67 15.13 26.11
1978 81
63.48 68.97 87.92 61.52 41.99 31.50 40.28 40.10 34.33 46.70 56.00 40.46 50.64 54.53 56.40 71.51 69.14 42.82 54.22
Source:i.Agricultural Census of UP, 1961-1981, Board of Revenue UP Lucknow.
ii.UP ke krishi ankre, 1978-79, 1979-80, 1980-85, Directorate of Agriculture UP, Lucknow.
83
As a result of the green revolution technology there
was a phenomenal increase in production of both foodgrains
and cash crops, particularly wheat and sugarcane, in western
UP. At the same time, the constant use of electricity,
diesel, machineries, HYV seeds, and fertilizers increased
the dependency of farmers on the government and market,
which decides the price of these inputs and their produce.
Agriculture in Upper Doab region like in the other parts of
country, where farmers' movements occurred was highly com
mercialised.
If this increase in agricultural production was uneven
in its geographical spread even in western UP the benefits
of the green revolution was more unequal amongst the farm
ers. There emerged a class of rich farmers having more than
15 acres. They use family as well as hired labour throughout
the year. In our village surveys, we found that they had
hired permanent farm servants from Bihar. This class of
farmers were the first to adopt new technology, which gave
them advantage over the large and middle farmers. The large
holders own roughly 10 to 15 acres. They use family labour
but also hire outside labour specially during the peak
agricultural season, but do not hire permanent farm serv
ants. Middle class farmers are those who own 5 to 10 acres
84
of land and are solely dependent on family labour. The large
and middle farmers have also adopted new technology. The
demands therefore made regarding, farm prices, subsidies
etc. are similar for rich large and middle farmers. These
categories also overlap with the middle agricultural castes
of the Upper Doab region i.e., Jats, Gujjars, Tyagis, Rewa
Rajputs, Jat Muslims etc. Small farmers are those who oper
ate 2.5 to 5 acres. They do not hire outside labour. In the
Upper Doab region some of them have also adapted the new
technology. In the villages survayed numerically, they were
larger than the rich, large and middle farmers put together.
Their caste background is more or less same to that of the
rich, large and medium farmers. The marginal farmers owning
less than 2.5 acres, overlap with the class of agricultural
labourers. They live on subsistance farming and are the
poorest section of the agrarian hierarchy. Together with the
landless and agricultural labours they constitute the larg
est category i.e. 74.12 percent of the total house hold's
survayed (see Chapter 4 table 4.1). They belong to the
service castes i.e. Dhiwar, Saini, Badhi, Gadharia, Nai,
Muslim Julaha etc., and schedule caste's, especially Jatavs.
It was the same middle and large cultivating
85
caste/class, who had benefited from the earlier policies of
the government, emerged as the major beneficiary of the
green revolution technology. 47 Large farmers were able to
accumulate irrigation and other resources to be further
invested in new technology inputs, i.e., seeds, fertilizers,
pesticides, tube-wells and machineries. 48
Table 2.10: Percentage Distribution of number and area of operational Holdings in western Uttar Pra
desh, using chemical fertilizers and pesticides in irrigated area
Sl. Size Class
No. in hectare
1. Below 1.00
2. 1.00 - 1. 99
3. 2.00 - 3.99
4. 4.00 - 9.99
5. 10.00 & above
6. Total
No.
61.20
19.58
12.97
5.76
0.47
100
Total No. of Holdings Chemical Fertilizers Pesticides
Rs. (Use) Rs. (Use)
Area No. of Hold- Gross Irri- No. of Area, Trea- No. of Area
(hect.) ings, grow- gated area
19.11
21.79
28.32
25.34
5.41
100
ing one or
more of the
major HYV
crops
69.57
86.04
93.12
92.94
91.03
78.06
under crops
72.30
81.69
70.71
68.97
60.91
72.37
Holdings ted with
Chemical
Fertilizers
78.73 72.73
69.88 69.88
86.96 83.87
92.56 85.70
94.85 79.69
82.81 78.61
Holdings Treated
with Pe
sticides
1.38 0.4
5.12 1.7
8.95 5.1
12.98 5.4
15.19 6.9
4.50 3.6
Source: Agriculture Census in Uttar Pradesh 1976-77, Part I, Board of Revenue Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow,
1980, p.241.
Recent studies show that small holders do participate
significantly in the new technology. 49 No doubt, the use of
HYV, chemical fertilizers, pesticides had a tendency to
increase with the landholding size. But Table 2.10 shows
86
that in western UP out of 61.20 per cent of the marginal
holders controlling 19.11 per cent of the area, 69.57 per
cent used HYV seeds and 78.73 per cent used various types of
chemical fertilizers. Moreover our village survey in Meerut
and Muzaffarnagar, confirms this trend (see Table 2.11).
Hence in the growth regions of western UP, small holders
were bound to develop common interest with large holders on
the issue of cheap inputs. If the prices of agricultural
commodities (particularly wheat) does not benefit them,
input costs definitely form a part of their calculations.
This enhanced credibility of small producers have increased
farmers solidarity on issues such as input prices.
As far as the output is concerned, the contribution of
marginal and small farmers regarding surplus for market has
been meagre. Though they used HYV seeds (68.5 per cent of
households) chemical fertilisers (81.5 per cent) and pesti-
cides (20 per cent) . Only 5 per cent of the household sold
rice, 15 per cent sold wheat and 4 per cent sold sugarcane
(See Table 2 .11) . Moreover, 60 per cent of the marginal
farmers sold these cash crops to buy other inferior varie
ties of foodgrains for consumption. This was not the case
with small, middle, and large land holders. Table 2.11
87
shows that the contribution of surplus to the market in-
creases with the increase in land holdings, and the maximum
contribution of about 70 to 100 per cent is of large and
rich farmers.
Table 2.11: Land-holding-wise, use of Modern Inputs and Surplus production for market, in 8 villages of Muzaffarnagar and Meerut
Land Holdings No. of House- Percentage Percentage Percentage Percentage of household intervie-
per Hect. holds of house- of house- of house- wed and ceiling their produce for
holds I, holds I, hold profit of 3 major crops
total inter- using HYV using chemi- interviewed
viewed seeds cal fertili- using Rice* Wheat Sugarcane
zers fertilizers (produced)
Landless 2084 418
Marginal
below 1 878 176 68.5 81.5 20 5** 35** 34**
Small 1-2 535 106 98.5 100 56 so 45 85
Middle 2-4 362 73 100 100 67 60 so 98
Large 4-6 96 19 100 100 75 71 80 100
6 & above 41 9 100 100 80 85 95 100
Source: Field work, conducted in 1991, 1992, 1994. * Rice in western UP is produced not for consump
tion but for market. ** Some of the marginal farmers purchased other
foodgrains instead of rice and wheat.
This class of surplus producers are numerically prepon-
derant in western UP, as the concentration of medium, large
88
and rich holdings are more in this region than the other
regions of UP (see Table 2.2 Appendix). This surplus pro-
ducing class, with the onset of green revolution contributed
to the government's buffer stocks of wheat and other food
grains. The central government was dependent on the surplus
producing farmers of Punjab, Haryana and western UP in order
to feed the growing urban and semi-urban population. Hence
the procurement and support prices of foodgrains was an
important issue both for the producers and buyers.
In the initial stages of the Green Revolution, the
government in order to sustain the new technology provided
the farmers with cheap inputs with credit facilities and
other manufactured goods and machines. The procurement and
support prices of agricultural produce were fixed in such a
manner that new farmers and regions would adopt the new
technology to increase per hectare yield. This policy paid
off and as we have seen, the per hectare yield increased
phenomenally in western UP thereby increasing the income of
surplus-producing farmers. This trend changed in the mid-
1970s, partially due to the hike in petroleum prices and
cost-push economy, the prices of the inputs increased. For
example, over the decade 1970-71 to 1980-81, fertilizer
prices increased by 243 per cent, pesticides by 329 per cent
89
and tractors by 290 per cent, while prices of cereals in-
creased only by 213 per cent.
Table 2.12: Domestic Terms of Trade between Agriculture and Industry, 1971-72 to 1980-81 (1971-72 = 100)
Years
1970-71 1971-72 1972-73 1973-74 1974-75 1975-76 1976-77 1977-78 1978-79 1979-80 1980-81
Source:
Prices Received by the Agricultural Sector
100.1 102.3 117.1 142.9 166.8 143.9 154.0 162.7 157.1 185.4 213.6
Prices paid by the Agricultural Sector
100.5 105.3 113.1 131.6 164.2 165.9 170.3 180.1 183.9 209.3 244.8
Barter terms of Trade
99.60 97.72
103.54 108.59 101.58
86.74 90.43 90.94 88.58 88.58 87.25
A.S. Kahlon and D.S. Tyagi, Agricultural Price Policy in India, Allied Publishers, cited in Swamy and Gulati in "From Prosperity to Retrogression -Indian Cultivators during the 1970s", EPW, Vol.XXI, Nos.25 and 26, Review of Agriculture, June 21-28, 1986, p.A62.
Kahlon and Tyagi have calculated the prices received
and paid by farmers, Table 2.12 shows an average annual
deterioration at the rate of 1.8 per cent loss to the farm-
ers in the domestic terms of trade. 50 This has been de-
scribed as the decline in the,net barter, terms of trade for
agriculture.
90
Table 2.13: Net Income from Wheat production 1970-71 to 1980-81 (rupees per hectare at 1970-71 prices)
Year Punjab Haryana Uttar Pradesh
1970-71 328 611 N.A.
1971-72 426 553 504
1972-73 167 N.A. 248
1973-74 589 601 612
1974-75 430 478 N.A.
1975-76 59 331 110
1976-77 124 -109 N.A.
1977-78 72 27 N.A.
1978-79 193 -46 149
1979-80 175 N.A. 78
1980-81 54 N.A. 126
Annual Rate of Decline of Price over Cost 17.09 28.18 13.82
% of Wheat to Net Sown Area 41.3 26.8 30.4
Source: (i) Indian Agriculture in Brief (various issues) . (ii) Report of Agricultural Price Commission on Wheat Policy (various issues), cited in Dilip Swamy and Ashok Gulati, "From Prosperity to Retrogression Indian Cultivation during the 1970s", Economic and Political Weekly, vol.XXI, Nos.25 and 26, Review of Agriculture, June 21-28, 1986, p.A57.
91
In the mid 1970s, the parity between the agrarian and
non-agrarian sectors of the economy was not only disrupted
but moved decisively in favour of non-agricultural sector.
Wheat is the principal (dominant) crop in Panjab, Haryana
and UP, where it covers 41.3 per cent, 26.8 per cent and
30.4 per cent of the net sown area respectively. But in the
mid 1970s the wheat growers' income in UP, Punjab and Har-
yana steadily declined. In UP, it declined from Rs.504 to
Rs.126 over the period 1971-72 to 1980-81 (see Table 2.13).
On the other hand by mid 1970s, the green revolution
technology both at the all India level and in the states
like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana and
western UP entered a period of decline. A number of empiri
cal studies shows serious shortages of inputs by 1975 and
hence decline in quality and also per hectare yields. 51
92
Table 2.14: Districtwise Percentage of Annual Compound Growth Rate of Agricultural Productivity Per Hectare
Districts
Saharanpur Muzaffarnagar Meerut + Ghaziabad Bulandsahr Aligarh Mathura Agra Mainpuri Etah Bareily Bijnor Badaun Moradabad Sahajahanpur Pilibhit Rampur Farrukhabad Eta wah Western UP
1970-73 over
1962-63
2.65 3.31 3.80 9.01 5.21 4.68 1. 76 2.62 2.39 1. 07 2.98 4.25 2.33 3.02 2.06 2.32 2.06 2.82 3.42
1978-81 over
1970-73
2.52 1. 95 2.24 2.47 2.45 2.17 3.29 2.10 0.98 3.26 3.02
-0.25 4.28 3.43 4.02 4.62 4.00 1. 20 2.63
Source: M.C. Thakur: Spatial determinants of agricultural productivity in western UP - 1962-65 to 1978-81, M.Phil Dissertation 1983, Centre for the Study of Regional Development, School of Social Sciences, JNU, New Delhi.
In western UP Table 2.14 shows that the annual com-
pound growth of agricultural productivity per hectare in-
creased by 3.42 per cent between 1962-65 to 1970-73. But
between 1970-73 and 1980-81, the growth rate of agricultural
productivity per hectare was only 2.63 per cent. Out of the
93
19 districts in western UP only 4, i.e., Moradabad (4.2 per
cent), Pilibhit (4.02 per cent), Rampur (4.62 per cent) and
Farrukhabad (4 per cent) showed high growth rate between
1970-73 to 1978-81. This was evident from the fact that the
growth rate per kg/hectare of major HYV crops in western UP
by mid 1970s either stagnanted or declined. The growth rate
for rice was 6.17 per cent from 1962-65 to 1970-73, it
declined to 2.56 from 1970-75. to 1978-81. For sugarcane it
went to negative -0.12 per cent in the second phase (see
Table 2 .15) .
Table 2.15: Percentage of Annual Compound Growth Rate, Yield kg per hectare of some principle crops in Western UP - 1962-65, 1970-73, 1978-81
Crops
1. Rice 2. Jowar 3. Bajra 4. Maize 5. Wheat 6. Barley 7. Tur 8 . Groundnut 9. Rap seed &
10. Gram 11. Potato 12. Sugarcane 13. Tobacco
Mustard
Percentage of Annual Compound Growth Rate kg/Hect.
1970-73 over 1962-65
6.17 -1.63 -2.51 -6.22 4.02 1. 60
-3.87 -6.53 4.60
-0.75 10.47
2.68 8.53
94
1978-81 over 1970-75
3.20 2.43
-2.43 -3.02 2.56 1. 30
-1.96 -3.23 1. 54 5.32 3.92
-0.12 2.62
.· ,..
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Uttar pradesh on the other hand by mid 1970s, remained
ndustrially underdeveloped. This was evident from the very
slow growth of the non-agriculture sector, particularly
manufacturing and industries of consumer goods. During
1970s, the economy of UP progressed at a slow rate of 2.3
per cent per annum as compared to 3.3 per cent annually for
the entire country. Hence work force dependent on agricul-
ture remained stagnant. 66
Similar type of crisis in agriculture and deteriorating
incomes of the surplus producing farmers triggered off
agitations on price and related issues in Tamil Nadu, Karna-
taka, Maharashtra, and Punjab. As discussed above, the
agrarian situation of western UP was the same. Many dis-
tricts of western UP, i.e., Rampur, Farrukhabad, Pilibhit
etc., witnessed the same level of success in many indices of
green revolution and commercialisation of agriculture. The
farmers' movement could not establish itself in these dis-
tricts. It was limited to the Upper Doab region because the
social condition of this region were different. Map 2:2
shows that at the peak of the movement, the geographical
support base of the BKU was the same area where Jat, Gajjar,
Tyagi and Jat Muslims farmers were surplus producers. Thus
95
with agrarian change in western UP, its social organisation
of caste and bhiyachara among Jat, Gujar, Tyagis and Jat
Muslims played an important role in mobilisation of the
farmers. BKU was not able to mobilise the surplus producers
of other castes outside the Doab region. 53
It is not only the caste and bhiachara tradition that
limited the geographical spread of the movement. But the
political condition being different, farmers' movement on
non-party lines did not start in the mid 1970s but in the
late 1980s. In the 1970s western UP farmers had Chaudhary
Charan Singh and his various agrarian political parties to
voice their grievances. Charan Singh through his writings
and political action within and outside the government not
only catered to the demands of the middle and rich farmers
of western UP, but played a major role in their emergence as
an economic and political force in the rural areas. He
played an important role in the growth of capitalism in
agriculture of UP which Byres calls capitalism from below,
as it was based on peasant proprietors and not landlords. 54
In his writings Charan Singh rejected collectivisation and
co-operative farming or socialist form of agriculture. He
even opposed capitalist form of agriculture based on mechan-
96
isation. 55 Instead, he favoured peasant proprietors having
2.5 to 27.5 acres of land. In the post-independence period,
when he was in the Congress party, he played a leading role
in framing the Agricultural Produce Market Bill 1938 and the
Debt Redemption Bill 1939. Both the bills had measures
designed to protect the emerging rich proprietors of western
UP from traders and money lenders. His hatred of the zamin
dar class which had suppressed the upper and middle class
peasantry, led to his becoming the main architect of the
Zamindari Abolition Act in UP. This act created a large
number of bhumidhars (owner-proprietor) in western UP. He
further strengthened the position of middle caste/class
proprietors by consolidation of Holdings Act 1953. As a
membr of the UP cabinet, he had differences with Pandit Pant
and almost resigned in 1959 when the Congress proposed joint
farming. 56
In the 1960s the green revolution strategy increased
the production of wheat in western UP hence raising the
income of middle and rich caste/class peasant proprietors.
Charan Singh was instrumental in translating their economic
gains to the arena of state and national politics, making
them a political force in the rural areas of western UP. By
taking issues like land taxation and food procurement, he
97
took the struggle on behalf of the emergent middle and rich
caste/class proprietors from the countryside to national
politics. 57 He did not allow the Chief Minister C.B. Gupta
in 1962 to increase land tax by 50 per cent. He told the
Congress party high command bluntly, that it is the land
holders of more than 12.5 acres who enjoy political influ-
ence in the countryside. If land taxes are increased, this
influence in future would be exercised to the disadvantage
of Congress. 58
In 1960s, the central government wanted to progressive
ly socialize foodgrain trade, i.e., take it out of the hands
of the private traders. The Food Corporation of India (FCI)
and Agricultural Price Commission (APC) were created in
1965. When the government failed to procure sufficient
amount of foodgrains through levies from traders, it aimed
to procure it from those producers with large marketable
surplus and holding capacity. Charan Singh would have
preferred no policy of procurement. It was in this national
crisis situation, that he became the first non-Congress
chief minister of UP. He modified the scheme of the previ-
ous government and instead of charging levy on all the
farmers, holdings of 8 acres and above had to give wheat to
98
the government purchasing centres. 59 Moreover, he gave many
concessions to these farmers, i.e. areas hit by drought were
to be exempted, a reduction was allowed to those cultivaors
who had sown less than their full acreage; there was a
generous time limit for registering objection to the amount
levied. In addition the government issued supplies of
cement, sugar and galvanised iron sheets to be made avail
able to the farmers coming forward with their produce. 60
Finally, the price paid to the farmers Rs.80 and Rs.85 per
quintal was a high one. In fact, the whole scheme in the
long run proved to be beneficial to the rich farmers. As in
1970s, the administered prices for agriculture through mini
mum support price and procurement price gave a significant
upward bias to agricultural prices. 61
In 1967, Charan Singh formed the Bhartiya Kranti Dal
(BKD) . This party articulated the discontent of the rich
and middle peasants of Upper Doab. They were not only
dissatisfied with government's failure to provide subsidies
for capital inputs and incentive prices for foodgrains, but
also irritated by the revised irrigation rates and develop
ment levies imposed by the Congress government. 62 The
formation of BKD and later Bhartiya Lok Dal (BLD) offered
them an organisational alternative for asserting their
99
political interest which they believed had been hitherto
neglected by the Congress. Moreover, economic gains of the
large proprietors of western UP, provided the party means to
make an independent bid for power. 63 Charan Singh through
BLD/BKD, formed an alliance of Jats, Muslims, Ahirs, Rajputs
and Gujjars of western UP, Yadavs, Koeris, Kurmis and OBCs
of eastern UP. These castes had benefited from the Green
revolution technology and by the end of 1970s had acquired
the characteristics of class for itself. 64
With this alliance, his BKD/LD was instrumental in the
formation of Janata Party which formed the first non
Congress government at the centre. He became Minister for
Home Affairs, but was forced to resign. Under his guidance,
Rai Harlal and Balbir Singh formed the Bhartiya Kisan Union
(BKU) on 13 August 1978. The BKU mobilised more than 10
million farmers for the kisan rally in Delhi on 23 December
1978 on the occasion of Charan Singh's birthday. It was the
largest rally in the history of the capital. Charan Singh
in this kisan rally talked of discrimination of rural areas
by the Indian planners, hence indirectly raising the issue
of urban versus rural, what Sharad Joshi latter called
Bharat versus India.65
100
This kisan rally, a show of his support base made him
the finance minister and later the Prime minister. The
Budget of March 1979 when he was Prime Minister, is often
described as a kulak budget. The duty on chemical fertiliz
ers was cut by half, taxes on mechanical tillers, diesel oil
and plastic PVC pumps were either reduced or abolished,
subsidy on minor irrigation was extended even to large
farmers, rural electrification, grain storage etc. were to
be improved, commercial banks were to lend to farmers etc.
These were all benefits which would accrue substantially to
the rich-middle class peasantry farmers. 66
After the defeat of 1980 elections, the BLD split into
two groups, one group consisted of the erstwhile BKD under
Charan Singh and the other Socialists consisting of Raj
Narain, Charanjit Yadav and Chandra Sekhar Singh who collec
tively had a base in eastern districts. Charan Singh start
ed nurturing his son Ajit Singh as his political heir. But
other leaders of BLD resented it nor could Ajit Singh over
come his urban background. After the death of Charan Singh,
two factions arose - one led by M.S. Yadav having support
bases in eastern and central UP, and the other by Ajit
Singh. These splits and struggle for leadership affected
101
the surplus producing farmers' of western UP, who suddenly
found no one of the stature of Charan Singh to pursue their
grievances. Hence a leadership void was created. The sur
plus producing farmers lost faith in political parties. 67
It was against this political backdrop that the BKU was
revived in western UP to fill the void and champion the
cause of the farmers.
Agrarian change in UP has therefore played a major
role in the mobilisation of rural population both in the pre
and post-independence period. The bhaiyachara land tenure
system in western UP, particularly in the Upper Doab region
did not allow the growth of a landlord class and tenants.
With the canal system, railways and commercialisation of
agriculture, there emerged a large section of rich, large
and middle caste/class farmers. The zamindari abolition,
consolidation of Landholding Act, community development, co
operative movement and finally the new technology called
green revolution further broadened the base and strengthened
this caste/class of proprietors economically. This economic
gain was translated in their emergence as a political force
in the rural areas of western UP, under the leadership of
Chaudhary Charan Singh and his various agrarian political
parties. The political condition of upper doa~ districts
102
being different, the farmers movement on non-political lines
did not start in the mid 1970's when the income of surplus
producing farmers had declined. The death of Charan Singh
and division of Lok Dal in late 1980's, created conditions
for the emergence of the BKU and Chaudhary Mahendra Singh
Tikait. The khap system among the surplus producing
caste/class i.e., Jats, Gujjars, Tyagis, Jat Muslims,
initially helped in mobilising them. At the same time
limited the spread of the movement to other districts of
western UP, outside the Upper Doab region.
103
NOTES:
1. Census of India 1991, Series, ~Uttar Pradesh, Director of Census Operations UP.
2. Statistical Dairy of Uttar Pradesh 1988 - Economics and Statistics Division, State Planning Institute, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 1989.
3. In this chapter our focus of the study is on the agrarian social and political condition of the Upper Doab districts, where the farmers movement had its support base.
4. A.B. Mukherji, "Jats: A Study on Human Geography", Geographical Review of India (Calcutta), vol.16, No.2, 1934, pp.12-35.
5. M.C. Pradhan, The Political System of the Jats in North India, Oxford University Press, London, 1966, pp.21-22. During our field work we were told stories about the settlement of villages particularly Sonta in Muzaffarnagar and pichaukra in Meerut. Sonta was captured and Richaukra purchased by Jats.
6. They are called peasant proprietors by virtue of their proprietorship over land and family participation over the production process. Sometimes assisted by their riayas of lower caste.
7. See Baden Powell, The Land System of the British India, vol.I, Oxford University Press, London, 1972, p.162.
8. M.C. Pradhan, QQ. cit., pp.6, 35.
9. Ibid., pp.22, 24.
10. Ibid., pp.35, 36.
11. Interview with Mange Ram Sharma (Lecturer, Political Science), Intermediate College Sisauli, Muzaffarnagar, June 1989.
12. M.C. Pradhan, QQ. cit., p.21.
104
13. Kai Freise, "Peasant Communities and Agrarian Capitalism", Economic and Political Weekly, September 29, 1990, p.A-137.
14. See N.C. Saxena, "Caste and Zamindari abolition in UP", Mainstream, June 15, 1985.
15. Muzaffarnagar was from the agricultural point of view very similar to Bundelkhand of the present day. The revenue rates on cultivated area for Saharanpur and Muzaffarpur were less than half the level of those prevailing in districts like Etawah and Kanpur, confirming the imprison that the Upper Doab was less prosperous than the lower Doab and eastern UP. For details see Ian Stone, Canal Irrigation in British India: Perspectives on Technological change in ~ peasant community, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1984, p.291.
16. Ibid., p.286.
17. Eric Stokes, The Peasant and the Raj: Studies in agrarian society and peasant rebellion in Colonial India, Vikas Publishing House, Delhi, 1978, pp.216, 217.
18. Ibid., p.217.
19. E. Whitecombe, Agrarian Conditions in Northern Vol.I: The United Provinces under British Rule, 1900, Thomson Press India Limited, New Delhi, pp. 64, 65 ..
20. Ian Stone, QQ. cit., p.282.
21. Stokes, QQ. cit., p.228.
India 1860-1971,
22. Amit Bhaduri, "Class Relations and Commercialisation in Indian Agriculture: A study in the Post Independence Agrarian Reforms in UP" in K.N. Raj, Sunita Bhattacharya (eds.), Essays in the Commercialisation of the Indian Agriculture, Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1985, p.313.
23. N.C. Saxena, QQ. cit., p.16.
24. Stone, QQ. cit., pp.308, 309.
105
25. Stokes, QQ. cit., pp.221, 22.
26. Baljit Singh and S. Mishra, ~Study of Land Reform in UP, Oxford Book Company, Calcutta, 1984, p.217.
27. For detailed discussion on Peasants movements in UP, see D.N. Dhanagre, Peasant Movements in India 1920-1950, OUP, New Delhi, 1982. Kapil Kumar, Peasants in Revolt, Tenants, Landlords. Congress and the Raj in Awadh 1986-1922, Manohar Publications, Delhi, 1984. M. Sidiqui, Agrarian Unrest in Modern India, The United Provinces 1918-23; Vikas Publishing House, Delhi, 1978. Rajendra Singh, "Peasant Movements in UP: A study in the Politics of .Land and Land Control in Basti District 1801-1970" in M.S.A. Rao (ed.), Social Movements in India, Vol.I, Manohar Publications, New Delhi, 1978.
28. The idea of co-operative farming did not materialise. The cooperative farming societies came into existence as an attempt by the large land owners to circumvent the land ceiling legislation and to get various concessions from the government. See Ajit Kumar Singh, "Impact of Land Reforms on Agrarian Structure and Agrarian Growth in UP" in Land Reform and Rural Change, Indian Association of Social Science Institute, New Delhi.
29. See Charan Singh, Land Reforms in UP and the Kulaks, Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi, 1986, p.48.
30. Bhaduri, QQ. cit., p.315.
31. M.C. Pradhan, QQ. cit., p.186.
32. Ibid., p.187.
33. Singh and Mishra, QQ. cit., pp.121-22.
34. Jagpal Singh, Capitalism and Dependence: Agrarian Politics in Western UP 1951-1991, Manohar Publications, New Delhi, 1992, p.19.
35. Baljit Singh, Next Step in Village India: A Study of Land Reforms and Group dynamics, Asia Publishing House, Bombay, 1961, pp.26, 28, 121-122, Table 3.
106
36. Zoya Hasan, Dominance and Mobilisation: Rural Politics in Western Uttar Pradesh, 1930-1980, New Delhi: Sage Publications, 1989, p.56.
37. Jagpal Singh, QQ. cit., p.23.
38. Paul Brass, "The Politicization of the Peasantry in a North Indian State" (Part I and II), Journal of Peasant Studies, January and September, 1980, p.398.
39. The ceiling programme in UP came almost after one decade. This programme was opposed by the Congress MLAs including Charan Singh, Swatantra Party, Jan Sangh, the leftist parties and a section of the bouregeoise on different grounds. For details see Charan Singh, QQ. cit., 1986. Z.A. Ahamad, Ceiling on Agricultural Land, New Delhi Communist Party of India, 1976, p.60. Newell Richard, "Ideology and Realities: Land Redistribution in UP", Pacific Affairs, vol.45, No.2, Summer 1972, pp.220-390.
40. Survey of 8 villages, 4 each in Muzaffarnagar and Meerut district, conducted in 1993.
41. Agricultural Census of UP, 1976-77, Board of Revenue Government of UP, Lucknow, 1978, p.14.
42. Statistical Diary of UP, 1988, Economic and Statistics Division, State Planning Institute, Lucknow, UP, 1989, p.143.
43. Indian Agriculture in Brief, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture Government of India, 1988, p.326.
44. See T.S. Papola, "The Economy of UP" in M. Adiseshiah Malcolm (ed.), The Economics of the States of the Union, Lancer International, New Delhi, 1989, pp.326-27.
45. For details, see T.C. Sharma and 0. Coutinho, Green Revolution Gaps: g Geographical Analysis, Rawat Publications, New Delhi, 1989. Mohammad Safi, Agricultural Productivity and Regional Imbalance: ~ Study of Uttar Pradesh, Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi, 1989.
107
T.S. Papola, Special Diversification of Industries: ~ Study in UP, Allied Publications, New Delhi, 1987. C.H. Hanumantha Rao, "Factors Endowments Technology and Farm Employment: Comparison of Eastern UP with West UP and Punjab", Economic and Political Weekly, vol.II, No.39, September 25, 1976, pp.A117 to 123.
46. For a detailed discussion on tubewell irrigation see B.D. Dhawan, Development of tubewell Irrigation in India, Agricole Publishing Academy, New Delhi, 1982, pp.32-33.
47. Many studies have shown that the profits of new technology increased with the increasing land holdings. For details see Chapter I, Note, 17.
48. See Biplab Das Gupta, The New Agrarian Technology and India, Macmillan, New Delhi, 1977.
49. See Chapter I, p.l3.
50. D.S. Tyagi, "Domestic terms of trade and their effects on supply and demand for the Agriculture Sector", Economic and Political Weekly, vol.22, No.13, 1987.
51. See Biplab Das Gupta, QQ. cit.
52. Percentage of rural work force depending on Agriculture in UP: 1960-61- 87.20 per cent, 1970-71- 87.68 per cent, 1980-81 - 86.76 per cent. See H.R. Sharma, "Distribution of Landholding in Rural India 1953-54 & 1981-82, Implications of Land Reform", Economic and Political Weekly, September 24, 1994, p.A118.
53. For detailed discussion of the caste support base of BKU, see Chapter III and IV.
54. Terrence J. Byres,, "Charan Singh 1902-87: An Assessment", Journal of Peasant Studies, vol.15, No.2, January 1988, p.l76.
55. Charan Singh has written several books which makes his ideas clear and distinct on Indian Agriculture, i.e., Charan Singh, Abolition of Zamindari: Two Alternatives, Kitabistan, Allahabad, 1942. Joint Farming X-Rayed: The Problems and its Selection, Kitabistan, Allahabad,
108
1959. Indian Economic Policy: The Gandhian Blue Print, National Publishing House, New Delhi, 1978. Economic Nightmare of India: Its Causes and Cures in 1980-87, National Publishing House, New Delhi, 1981.
56. Sudha Pai, Uttar Pradesh: Agrarian Change and Electoral Politics, Shipra Publications, Delhi, 1993, pp.47-48.
57. Byres, QQ. cit., pp.156-57.
58. Charan Singh, Land Reforms in UP and the Kulaks, Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi, p.188, cited in Byres, ibid., p.158.
59. Ibid., p.160.
60. Ibid., p.161.
61. Ashok Mitra, Terms of Trade and Class Relations, Frank Cass, London, 1977, pp.110-11.
62. See Zoya Hasan, "Power and Mobilization: Patterns of Resilience and Change in Uttar Pradesh Politics" in Francine R. Frankel, M.S.A. Rao (eds.), Dominance and State Power in Modern India: Decline of ~ Social Order, vol.I, Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1989, pp.180-81.
63. Ibid., p.181.
64. For caste or class debate see, Paul Brass, Caste, Faction and Party in Indian Politics, vols.I and II, New Delhi, 1984, 1985. Zoya Hasan, QQ. cit., 1987. Lloyd I. Rudolph and Susanne H. Rudolph, QQ. cit., 1984. Horal A. Gould, "A Sociological Perspective on the Eighth General Election in India", Asian Survey, vol.XXVI, no.6, June 1986, p.640.
65. The Hindu, 25 January 1979.
66. Sudha Pai, QQ. cit., p.49.
67. Interview with Choudhry Jasbir Singh, President BKU, Meerut district, 1989.
109