Ruralization of Indian Economy

With de-industrialisation,Indian economy tended to become more and more agricultural. Millions of manufacturing classes in industrial towns like Dhaka ,Murshidabad, Surat and other places were rendered jobless and drifted from towns to villages for livelihood. This increasing dependence of the population on agriculture for subsistence and slant of the Indian economy on production of agricultural goods and raw material has been described as a trend towards ruralisation of Indian economy. British writers of 19th and 20th centuries took pride in describing India as traditionally an agricultural country.

Causes and factors behind Ruralisation

A close examination of the British economic policy towards India makes it abundantly clear that Britain deliberately adopted such policies which ruined the competing handicraft industries of India, It then helped develop the agricultural resource of India to make it ”An agricultural Farm”of industrialsed Britain.As early as March 1769 The court of Directors desired the company’s agents in Bengal to encourage the manufacture of raw silk and discouraged manufactured silk fabric, this objective was to be achieved by forcing the silk winders to work in the company’s factories and prohibit them from working in their homes. A select committe of The House of Commons in 1783 desired a perfect plan of policy to change the whole face of India’s Industrial outlook.
The Industrial revolution had brought about a change in the pattern of England’s economic development ,its expanding textile industries needed raw materials for its factories and market for the sale of her industrial products. These developments called for a change in method of British colonial exploitation in India. Now agriculture began to be influenced by commercial consideration. Certain specialised crops began to be grown not for consumption in the villages but for sale in national and international markets.

Industrialised Britain desired the development of the vast potential of India’s agriculture resources.The charter act of 1833 removed all restrictions on European immigration and acquisition of landed property in India and British capital flowed to develop India’s Plantation industry-In Tea ,coffee ,Indigo and jute cultivation. The Assam waste land rules provided for the grant of extensive tracts of land upto 3000 acre per holder as free hold property exempted from land tax on payment of fixed sum.The tea planters of Assam used force and fraud to recruit labour for work in tea estate. British government provided the legislative umbrella by legalising their exploitation. Act XIII of 1859 and inland immigration act of 1882 made breach of contract a criminal offence and authorised the tea planters to arrest a run away labourer without any warrant.

Percentage of population dependent on Agriculture(Approx.)

Alice and Daniel have rightly guessed that a major shift from industry to agriculture in India happened between 1815 and 1880. R.P.Dutt after a close examination of the census from 1891-1921,has calculated the increase in the percentage of the population dependent on agriculture thus:
YEAR            Percentage of population dependent on agriculture
1891             61.1%
1901             66.5%
1911             72.2%
1921             73.0%

Impact of Ruralisation

The over pressure on agriculture created serious distortions in Indian economy.Apart from creating serious problems in the agrarian sector the increase in the number of persons in agriculture led to the fragmentation of land holdings,peasants did cultivation for livelihood not for surplus on the other hand high revenue demand from british forced the farmers to borrow money from money lenders ,now started a cycle of increasing poverty and indebtedness of rural economy in the 19th and first quarter of 20th century.

By: Ankush Sharma