Green Revolution and the Class Polarization Argument

It has been often argued that early part of Green Revolution led to a class polarization in the rural parts of the country because rich peasants became richer at the cost of small peasants; because the later were not able to access modern inputs. This argument further says that resources were concentrated into those regions which were already well to do and thus it further accentuated the regional imbalance. The small peasants were further pushed to become landless labourers; and this created condition for agrarian unrest and revolt. Thus, “Green Revolution will lead to Red Revolution” was the slogan that was given by proponents of this theory in 1960s and 1970s.

What happened class polarization argument?

This argument was not fully unfounded and it was this argument which forced the political dispensation to take measures so that the poor farmers could access to inputs. It led the Indira Gandhi government to launch Garibi Hatao campaign for rural poor. Some other programmes initiated during the 1970s included Small Farmers Development Agencies (SFDA), Rural Works Programme (RWP), Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP), Command Area Development Programme (CADP) etc. Government took proactive measures to make institutional credit reach to farmers. Entire banking system and cooperative system was mandated to give priority sector loans to farmers and poor.

What happened to Red Revolution argument?

The green revolution coupled with an array of government initiatives was successful in making self sufficient in foodgrains. It also had a major impact on rural poverty because of decline in prices of food. It led the government to create enough buffer stocks to meet the contingencies. In summary, it made substantial improvement in the life of Indians majority of who were still dependent on farming. The slogan of red revolution was false because green revolution did not cause any peasant revolts in the country. Whatever peasant militancy we see today is based upon a premise of systematic overthrow of the Indian government itself (e.g. naxalism). Government’s role in making inputs available to poor farmers has been substantial because of subsidy programmes.