Question

What is meant by a Bullock - Capitalist?
1. Farmers who are poor
2. Farmers who are rich.
3. Farmers who have some resources but are not rich.
4. Farmers who are big Zamindars.

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 3 : Farmers who have some resources but are not rich.

The correct answer is Farmers who have some resources but are not rich.

• Since postcolonial India had the majority of its population dependent on agriculture, there were several measures introduced through the Green revolution to make India self-sufficient in food production.
• When land reforms of 1960 abolished the Zamindari system where zamindars acted as intermediaries between state and cultivators for collecting revenue, this position left vacant by zamindars was occupied by two producer groups.
  • One is the landlords with variously sized land holdings who rented land to tenants or employed labor. Other is small to medium-sized, self-employed independent agricultural producers.
  • These independent producers were the principal beneficiaries of landlord abolition.
  • They are self-employed and self-funded and since their land holdings are large enough to support the use of a pair of bullocks, they came to be known as bullock capitalists.
  • Since Bullock capitalists are self-funded, any profit pursued or earned out of surplus would be used for their own well-being.