Popular Movements in India

To prepare for POST INDEPENDENCE HISTORY OF INDIA for any competitive exam, aspirants have to know about the Popular Movements In India. It gives an idea of all the important topics for the IAS Exam and the Economy syllabus (GS-II.). Popular Movements In India terms are important from Economy perspectives in the UPSC exam. IAS aspirants should thoroughly understand their meaning and application, as questions can be asked from this static portion of the IAS Syllabus in both the UPSC Prelims and the UPSC Mains exams.

In this article you will learn about – Land Reforms, Agriculture Growth And Green Revolution, Agrarian Struggles Since Independence, Cooperatives, Women’s Movements in India, Women’s Movements in India, Dalit Movements in India, Environment Movements in India, Civil Democratic Movements in India, Era of ICT 

Land Reforms Movements in India: Two Phases in Post-Independence India #

Introduction- #

• The land reforms process in India after Independence can be categorised mainly in two phases-

1. Phase of Institutional Reforms/First Phase

• 1947-1960
• Abolition of Intermediaries i.e Zamindars etc
• Tenancy Reforms
• Ceilings on size of large landholdings
• Cooperative & Community Development programmes

2. Phase of Technological Reforms/2nd Phase

• After 1960
• Green Revolution, etc.

Land Reforms Movements in India: First Phase – Institutional Reforms and Access Strategies #

• At the time of Independence, India inherited a semi-feudal agrarian agriculture with onerous tenure arrangements
• The ownership and control of land was highly concentrated in a few landlords and intermediaries.
• Thus, the agricultural land resources of India was gradually impoverished because economic motivation tended towards exploitation rather than investment

Access to Land Reforms #

1. Gandhian Approach: The Sarvodaya movement in India of Mahatma Gandhi Talks more about the universal upliftment. Inspired by Gandhism, Vinoba Bhave has started the Gram dam movement. This movement approached the landlords to donate surplus to the landless / marginalised farmers.
2. The radical nationalist approach: Has been formally adopted by most of the state governments, however this approach couldn’t contribute much,
3. The Marxist approach has been taken into account and is supported in the wake of peasant movements in India.

Kumarappa Committee and Agrarian Reforms in Post-Independence India #

• At the time of independence, not only intermediaries like Zamindars and Talukdars dominated the agriculture in the country but there also existed various forms of absentee landlords.
• The agricultural production suffered due to lack of investment in the land, which in turn was a result of the following factors: Unfair tenancy arrangements, Begar, Illegal extractions by landlords & Rack-renting of the peasants.
• The Kumarappa Committee for the first time made a detailed survey of the agrarian relations prevailing in the country and recommended comprehensive recommendations covering all issues of land reforms-
• It opined that all intermediaries between the State and the tiller should be eliminated and land must belong to the actual tillers of the soil
• Subletting of land should be prohibited except in case of widows, minors and other disabled persons, persons who put a minimum amount of physical labour and participate in actual agricultural operations should be deemed to cultivate personally, etc.
• There should be a ceiling to the size of holdings which a farmer should own and cultivate.
• It considered collective farming for the development of reclaimed waste lands on which landless labourers could be employed.
• It held that peasant farming would be the most suitable form of cultivation.

Zamindari Abolition Movements in India: Land Reforms and Tenant Empowerment #

• While the Constituent Assembly was in the process of framing India’s constitution, a number of provinces such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Madras, Assam and Bombay introduced zamindari abolition bills or land tenure legislation, which provided for removal of intermediary levels.
• The first amendment in 1951 and the fourth amendment in 1955 further strengthened the hands of the state legislatures for implementing zamindari abolition, making the question of violation of any fundamental right not permissible in the courts.
• Another major hurdle in implementing the Zamindari abolition legislation was the absence of adequate land records.
• Amidst all these, the land reform process in the country was completed by the end of 1950s.
• After the abolition of the zamindari system, around 20 million tenants became landowners. It not only made them landowners but also evicted them from the shackles of existing land owners.
• The compensation which was made to landowners varied from state to state depending upon the population of the tenant.

Abolition of Intermediaries Movements in India: Empowering Agricultural Sector Post-Independence #

• Intermediaries like Talukdars, Jagirs and Imams had dominated the agricultural sector in India during Independence.
• Soon after Independence, measures for the abolition of the zamindari system were adopted in different parts of the country.
• The first act to abolish intermediaries was passed in Madras in 1948.
• As a result, about a crore tenants became the owners of the land.

Limitations of Land Reforms: Challenges Faced in Post-Independence India #

• Reluctance of the Zamindars–
• After the law was passed, the zamindars filed a litigation in High Courts and Supreme Court. Such litigations greatly reduced the effectiveness of these legislations.
• After the law was finally implemented, the Zamindars refused to cooperate with the revenue authorities.
• The petty revenue officials at Village and Tehsil level actively supported Zamindars for bribes.
• Loopholes in the Laws-
• Zamindars misused this loophole in the law to evict tenant farmers and keep most of the land with themselves through means of legal process.
• They started capitalistic farming in the area to increase productivity.

Emergence of New Intermediaries: Challenges in Post-Zamindari Abolition Era #

• Main beneficiaries of zamindari abolition were the upper or superior tenants.
• These new landowners leased the same land to inferior tenants/ sharecroppers, based on oral and unrecorded agreements.
• These inferior tenants/sharecroppers could be evicted as per the whims and fancies of the new landowner.

Tenancy Reform Movements in India: Addressing Challenges and Varied Implementation in Post-Independence India- #

• The tenancy reforms laws provided the provisions for registration of tenants or giving ownership rights to the former tenants to bring them directly under the state.
• The political and economic conditions in different parts of India, however, were so varied that the nature of tenancy legislation passed by the different states and the manner of their implementation also varied.

• Several states enacted legislation conferring security of tenure on tenants. But they are not uniform. In some states, in the event of resumption of land for self-cultivation by the landlord, a minimum land is required to be left with the tenant cultivator.
• In others, there was no provision for a minimum land to be left for the tenants in case of resumption of land for self-cultivation.

Rent Regulation Movements in India: Curbing Exploitative Practices in Post-Independence India #

• Before the enactment of laws regulating rent, tenants paid exorbitant rents ranging from 50 to even 80 per cent of the produce to the landlords. Legislations were passed to regulate the rent.
• Now the maximum rates of rent were fixed at levels not exceeding 1/4 to of the gross produce in all states except in Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab.

Ownership Rights Movements in India: Land Transfer and Compensation in Post-Independence India #

• In some states, the governments took over the land from the owners after paying compensation to them and then transferred the same to the tenants-cultivators in lieu of its price to the state in installments.
• In others, the tenants were asked to pay a fixed compensation directly to the owners in installments.

Constitutional Safeguards and Future Policies: Securing Agrarian Reforms in Post-Independence India #

• The Court cases challenging the agrarian reforms began to proliferate, and the 1st Amendment to the constitution became necessary.
• This first amendment inserted new Articles 31A and 31B and the Ninth Schedule, thus securing the constitutional validity of zamindari abolition laws, specifying that they could not be challenged on the grounds that they violated the Fundamental Rights.

Land Ceiling Movements in India: Pursuit of Equitable Land Distribution in Post-Independence India #

• Land ceiling means fixing the maximum size of landholding that an individual/family can own.
• The objective of the land ceiling was to make the distribution of land more equitable.
• The Land owned above the ceiling limit, was called surplus land.
• What did the government do with surplus land- If an individual or a family owned more land than the ceiling limit, the surplus land was to be taken away with or without paying compensation to original owner and then this surplus land was to be distributed among small farmers, landless labourers, even handed over to village panchayat or given to cooperative farming societies
• Thus, the ceiling on land holdings was an important step toward achieving growth with Social justice.
• Limitations- By and large the ceiling laws in most states had certain major shortcomings.

• The ceiling fixed on existing holdings by the states were very high. Only in some states, where very few holdings exceeded the ceiling limit such as Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, no allowance was made for the size of the family.
• A large number of exemptions to the ceiling limits were permitted by most states following the Second Plan recommendation.
• The long delay in bringing in ceiling legislation to a large extent defeated its purpose.
• Further, the landowners also resorted to mass eviction of tenants, resuming their lands at least up to the ceiling limit, and claiming, often falsely, to have shifted to progressive farming under their direct supervision.
• Thus, by the time the ceiling legislations were in place, there were barely any holdings left above the ceiling and consequently little surplus land became available for redistribution.
• This was recognized by the Congress leadership and the Third Plan also admitted it.

Bhoodan Movements in India: Vinoba Bhave’s Land Reform Initiative in Post-Independence India #

• Bhoodan was an attempt at land reform, at bringing about institutional changes in agriculture, like land redistribution.
• Leadership – Eminent Gandhian Acharya Vinoba Bhave
• Objectives-
• To bring about a social order based on equality of opportunities by ensuring balanced economic distribution.
• Decentralisation of economic holdings and powers.
• Vinoba writes, while describing the objectives of Bhoodan movements in India, “In fact, the objective is of three-fold.”

1. 1. Power should be decentralised from village to village.
   2. Everybody should have a right on land and property.
   3. There should be no distribution in the matter of wages etc.

• Vinoba was interested in the creation of a new social order.
• Acharya Vinoba Bhave drew upon Gandhian techniques and ideas such as constructive work and trusteeship to launch this movement in the early 1950s.
• He organized an all-India federation of constructive workers named the Sarvodaya Samaj, which took up the task of a non-violent social transformation in the country.
• He and his followers set on a padayatra (walk on foot from village to village) to persuade the larger landowners to donate at least one-sixth of their lands as Bhoodan or ‘land-gift’ for distribution among the landless and the land poor.
• The Bhoodan was started in The problems faced by the landless Harijans were presented to Vinoba Bhave in Pochampalli, Telangana.
• In response to an appeal by Vinoba Bhave, some land owning class agreed to voluntary donation of some part of land.
• This led to the birth of Bhoodan Movements in India. Central and State governments had provided the necessary assistance to Vinoba Bhave.
• The movements in India, though independent of the government, had the support of the Congress, with the AICC urging Congressmen to participate in it actively.
• An Eminent former Congressman and a prominent leader of the Praja Socialist Party, Jayaprakash Narayan withdrew from active politics to join the Bhoodan movement in 1953.
• Meanwhile, towards of the end of 1955, the movements in India took a new form, that of Gramdan or ‘donation of village’
• The objective of the Gramdan movements in India was to persuade landowners and leaseholders in each village to renounce their land rights and all the lands would become the property of a village association for egalitarian redistribution and joint cultivation.
• A village is declared as Gramdan when at least 75 percent of its residents with 51 per cent of the land signify their approval in writing for Gramdan.
• The first village to come under Gramdan, was Magroth, Haripur, Uttar Pradesh. The second and third took place in Orissain 1955.
• The movements in India received widespread political patronage.
• Several state governments passed laws aimed at Gramdan and Bhoodan.

Conclusion: Decline of Bhoodan Movements in India  #

• The movement reached their peak around 1969. After 1969, Gramdan and Bhoodan lost its importance due to the shift from being a purely voluntary movement to a government supported programme.
• In 1967, after the withdrawal of Vinoba Bhave from the movement, it lost its mass base. In the later period, landlords had mostly donated land under dispute or unfit for cultivation.
• The whole movement was treated as something different from the general scheme of development rather than combining with the existing institutional means.
• This separation from the mainstream scheme seriously affected its continuation as a policy.

COOPERATIVES & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES #

Introduction- #

• A wide spectrum of the national movements in India leaders including Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, the Socialists and Communists were in consensus that cooperativization would lead to major improvement in Indian agriculture and would particularly benefit the poor.
• Thus, cooperativization was seen as an important element in the agenda for institutional changes sought to be achieved through land reform.
• The Congress at independence made very tentative proposals—like the state making efforts to organize pilot schemes for experimenting with cooperative farming among smallholders on government unoccupied but cultivable lands.
• Further, it was clarified that any move towards cooperativization was to be through persuasion, by getting the goodwill and agreement of the peasantry.

Evolution of Cooperatives in India: From Need to Kumarappa Committee Recommendations #

The First Plan #

• It approached the issue more judiciously and recommended that small and medium farms in particular should be encouraged and assisted to group themselves into cooperative farming societies.
• The early planners had hoped that the village panchayat, activated by motivated party workers and aided by the trained workers of the newly launched Community Development programme (in October 1952) would not only help implement rural development projects but would help bring about critical institutional changes in Indian agriculture.

The Second Plan #

• The main task during the Second Five Year Plan is to take such essential steps as will provide sound foundations for the development of cooperative farming so that over a period of ten years or so a substantial proportion of agricultural lands are cultivated on cooperative lines.
• In 1956 two Indian delegations (one of the Planning Commission, the other of the Union Ministry of Food and Agriculture), were sent to China to study how they organized their cooperatives and achieved such rapid increases in agricultural output.
• They both recommended (barring the minute of dissent by two members of one committee) a bold programme of extending cooperative farming in India.
• The National Development Council and the AICC now set targets even higher than the one envisaged by the Second Plan, proposing that in the next five years agricultural production be increased by 25 to 35 per cent if not more, mainly by bringing about major institutional changes in agriculture such as cooperativization.
• The states, however, resisted any large-scale plan for cooperativization, agreeing only to experiments in cooperative farming and that too if they remained strictly voluntary.

Nagpur Resolution of INC, 1959: Cooperative Vision for Agrarian Transformation #

• It clearly stated that ‘the organisation of the village should be based on village panchayats and village cooperatives, both of which should have adequate powers and resources
• The future agrarian pattern should be that of cooperative joint farming, in which the land would be pooled for joint cultivation, the farmers continuing to retain their property rights, and getting a share of the net produce in proportion to their land.
• Further, those who actually work on the land, whether they own the land or not, will get a share in proportion to the work put in by them on the joint farm.
• As a first step, prior to the institution of joint farming, service cooperatives should be organised throughout the country within a period of three years. Even within this period, however, wherever possible and generally agreed to by the farmers.

The Third Plan- #

• The Third Plan took a very pragmatic and cautious approach.
• As regards cooperative farming it accepted a modest target of setting up ten pilot projects per district.
• At the same time, it put in the caveat that ‘cooperative farming has to grow out of the success of the general agricultural effort through the community development movements in India, the progress of cooperation in credit, marketing, distribution and processing, the growth of rural industry, and the fulfillment of the objectives of land reform’.
• This sounded like a gradual process and not a plan of action.

Types of Cooperatives in Post-Independence India: Joint Farming and Emphasis on Milk Cooperative #

• As for joint farming, two types of cooperatives were observed.
• First, the ones that were formed essentially to evade land reforms and access incentives offered by the state. Typically, these cooperatives were formed by well-to-do, influential families who took on a number of agricultural labourers or ex-tenants as bogus members.
• Second, the state-sponsored cooperative farms in the form of pilot projects, were generally poor, previously uncultivated land was made available to the landless, Harijans, displaced persons and such underprivileged groups.

Milk Cooperative #

• After independence there was emphasis on the cooperatives as a means to improve agriculture and benefit the poor.
• In agriculture, particularly in land-reforms, it could not achieve desired results due to various reasons. The most successful experiment in the cooperatives was the milk cooperatives.

White Revolution #

• The condition of the farmers of the Kaira district of Gujarat (in 1997 Kaira was divided and a new Anand district was formed) was the same as the farmers from the rest of the country after independence.
• The Bombay Milk Scheme started by the Government of Bombay in 1945 benefitted milk contractors who took away the biggest share of profit.

Bombay Milk Scheme #

• The discontent amongst farmers grew. They reached Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel for his advice. He sent Morarji Desai to Kaira for the formation of the farmer’s cooperative.
• After some struggle with the Bombay government, in 1946 Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producer’s Union was set up.

Dr Varghese Kurien- Father of White Revolution #

• The objective of the Kaira Union was to provide proper marketing facilities for the milk producers of the district.
• It started supplying milk under the Bombay Milk Scheme.
• Varghese Kurien was the Chief Executive of the union from 1950-73.
• In 1955, Kaira union introduced the name ‘Amul’ (Anand Milk Union Limited) for marketing of their products.
• This new venture achieved a major breakthrough by producing milk products from the buffalo milk, a first in the world.
• In 1955, it had set up a factory to manufacture milk powder and butter, partly to deal with the problem of the greater yields of milk in winter not finding an adequate market.
• In 1960, a new factory was added which was designed to manufacture 600 tonnes of cheese and 2,500 tonnes of baby food every year – the first in the world to manufacture these products on a large commercial scale using buffalo milk
• In 1960, a new factory to manufacture cheese and baby food was set up.
• In 1964, a modern plant to manufacture cattle feed was commissioned
• An efficient artificial insemination service through the village society workers was introduced so that the producers could improve the quality of their stock.
• A special effort was made to educate women who generally looked after the animals in a peasant household.
• An Institute of Rural Management (IRMA) was founded in Anand for training professional managers for rural development projects, using the AMUL complex and the Kaira Cooperative as a live laboratory

Cooperative Movement in India: From Anand Pattern to NDDB Initiatives #

• Thereafter, a modern plant to manufacture cattle feed was commissioned. It used computer technology to do cost benefit analysis of prices of inputs for cattle feed and their nutritional value.
• With the spread of ‘Anand Pattern’ to other districts, in 1974, the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd was formed as an apex organization of the unions in the district to look after marketing

National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) #

• In 1964, the then Prime Minister of India Lai Bahadur Shastri  visited Kaira.
• After his discussions with Dr. Kurian was keen to replicate this model of cooperative success to other parts of India to achieve the socialistic pattern of society.
• The keenness of the PM led to the formation of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in 1965. It was headquartered in Anand. Kurian was its first chairman, who headed the body till 1998.
• Its aim was to strengthen the farmer’s cooperatives. It had the vision of transforming dairying as an instrument for the development of rural India.
• NDDB did not restrict itself to milk cooperatives. At the initiative of the NDDB, cooperatives for fruits and vegetable producers, oilseed cultivators, small scale salt makers and tree growers were started. For example, ‘Dhara’ , a vegetable oil brand, is a result of NDDB’s efforts.

Success Factors in Cooperative Movements in India: Leadership, Veterinary Services, Quality, Financial Security, and Democratic Functioning #

• Visionary leadership -The visionary leadership provided by Kurien. He solved the crucial problem of milk marketing through village level cooperatives.
• Veterinary services – Veterinary services were made available to the producers including artificial insemination service, to improve the quality of stock.
• High quality –High quality fodder seeds, vaccines etc too helped in milk production. It envisages a comprehensive programme of animal breeding, animal nutrition, and animal health and hygiene, livestock marketing and extension work on scientific lines.
• Financial Security– Insurance cover was made available to the producers and peasants were educated about the developments in the animal husbandry. Women who generally look after animals were also educated to adopt scientific practices in the milk production.
• Democratic model of functioning -It was the democratic model of functioning of cooperatives which inculcated the sense of ownership in all.

Operation Flood: Transforming India’s Dairy Industry through Cooperatives Expansion #

Operation Flood #

• The NDDB in 1969 designed a dairy development programme to lay the foundation for a viable, self-supportive national dairy industry.
• It sought to link rural milk production to urban milk marketing through the cooperatives.
• In 1970, with the technical assistance from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) the programme was launched as ‘Operation Flood’.
• It drew heavily from the Kaira Union for personnel, expertise etc. It was envisaged to replicate the ‘Anand Pattern’ in other milk-sheds of the country.

Objectives of Operation Flood Movements in India #

• Increasing milk production
• Bringing producer and consumer closer by eliminating midddle men
• Augmenting rural income
• Reasonable prrice for consumers
• To make India self-sufficient in milk production

Operation Flood Movements in India Impact: Revolutionizing India’s Dairy Sector and Socioeconomic Landscape #

• Before the launch of ‘Operation Flood’ national milk production grew at 7%, with the initiation of the programme, it grew at more than 4%.
• Dairying became an important source of income especially for small farmers and landless. About 60% of the beneficiaries were small farmers and landless. It acted as an important poverty alleviation measure.
• Overall animal services were improved including nutrition, health and it gave an advantage of reaching to certain deprived sections without exclusively targeting them.
• ‘Operation Flood’ along with NGOs like Self- Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) established about 6000 women dairy cooperative societies, managed by women only. These were run more efficiently than their male counterparts. This enabled them to participate in the decision making in various forums.
• With increase in income, access to education for children increased and the dropout rates declined.
• Work-load on girl-children decreased which helped in increasing their school attendance. Moreover, the rise in income helped in curbing child-labour.
• With this programme, there was an impetus to indigenous dairy equipment manufacturing industry. This helped in overall modernization of the sector

Agrarian Struggles Movements in India: Srikakulam Peasant Uprising and Naxalbari Inspirations #

The Srikakulam Peasant Uprising #

• The Srikakulam peasant uprising occurred in 1967–1970, in regions of Srikakulam district, Andhra Pradesh, India. The Naxalbari uprising inspired the upsurge.
• On October 31, 1967, two persons associated with the communists, Korana and Manganna were killed by landlords at Levidi Village while the two were going to attend Girijan Samagam Conference.
• In retaliation, the Girijans started retaliating by land, property and food grain seizure.
• The tribals started facing a severe offensive. The leadership started organizing the mass upheaval into an organized movements in India by forming peasant guerrilla squads and a more systemic resistance.
• By 1969 activities of the peasant squads increased along with their increasing actions.
• The government sent 12,000 CRF to tackle the uprising. Serious warfare continued for 6 months.
• By January 1970, 120 CRPF were killed. But the uprising soon met a rapid decline.

Note – We have covered Telangana Movements in India in Modern History and post-Independence chapter 1 notes and Naxal movements in India in our previous chapter).

New Farmers Movements in India #

• The farmers’ movements in India burst onto the national political stage in 1980 with the road and rail roko agitation in Nasik in Maharashtra led by the Shetkari Sangathan of Sharad Joshi. Nearly 200,000 farmers blocked the road and rail traffic on the Bombay-Calcutta and Bombay-Delhi route on November 10 demanding higher prices for onions and sugar cane.
• The Farmers in thousands and lakhs stopped traffic on highways and train routes, withheld supplies from cities, sat on indefinite dharnas at government offices in local and regional centers and prevented political leaders and officials from entering villages, especially at election time, till they agreed to support their demands.
• Why the Movements in India was launched– The basic understanding on which the movements in India rested is that the government maintains agricultural prices at an artificially low level in order to provide cheap food and raw materials to urban areas, and the consequent disparity in prices results in farmers paying high prices and receiving low returns for their produce.
• These ‘new’ farmers’ movements in India that attracted much media and political attention, especially in the 1980s, focussed mainly on demanding remunerative prices for agricultural produce, and lowering or elimination of government dues such as canal water charges, electricity charges, interest rates and principal of loans, etc.
• These organizations have shown scant concern for the landless rural poor or rural women. It is, however, true that they are broad based among the peasantry and not confined to the upper sections.
• Despite many claims by the leaders to be following in Gandhi’s footsteps, there is little evidence of lessons learnt from him, especially about the awesome responsibility of leadership.
• These movements in India are often referred to as ‘new’, the suggestion being that they are part of the worldwide trend of ‘new’ non-class or superclass social movements in India which have emerged outside the formal political party structures, examples being the women’s and environmental movements in India.
• The other ground on which ’newness’ is asserted is that these movements in India are not linked to political parties. While it is true that none of the organizations were started by political parties, it is also true that over time they have got linked to politics.

Agricultural Growth and Green Revolution Movements in India: Transforming Indian Agriculture #

Background of Agricultural Growth and Green Revolution Movements in India #

• During independence, the condition of Indian Agriculture was in an underdeveloped state.
• Despite three percent annual agricultural growth from 1949 to 1965, India was facing huge food shortages.
• India was not self-sufficient in Food production and therefore India need to import huge amount of food
• The two wars of 1962 and 1965 to successive droughts in 1965-66 reduced agricultural output.
• Massive population growth increased the demand for food.
• India was importing huge amounts of grains in the 1960s to feed its population.
• It faced famine conditions in most parts.
• Also, we have studied earlier that the USA supplied food grains under PL-480 schemes to India. This agreement was humiliating for India and in this situation, the USA threatened to discontinue food exports to India.
• Hence, Indian leaders decided to make India self-sufficient in foodgrains.

Green Revolution Movements in India: Transforming Indian Agriculture for Self-Sufficiency #

• Green Revolution is the phenomenon that is identified with India’s transition from an import dependent country for food to a self-sufficient It is related with major technological reforms undertaken in Indian agriculture from mid- 1960s.
• The project was led by M.S. Swaminathan, an Indian geneticist and biologist
• The then Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri along with Indira Gandhi gave full support to the New Agriculture Strategy. Under this focus was given on:
• High Yield Variety (HYV) seeds, chemical fertilizers and pesticides
• Agriculture machinery including tractors, pump- sets, and soil-testing facilities etc.
• Institutional credits with focus on areas which had assured irrigation facilities along with supporting agriculture infrastructure.
• Government investment in agriculture increased significantly.
• Efforts were made to ensure that the farmers have assured the market at remunerative prices.
• The Agriculture Prices Commission was set up in 1965 to recommend the prices for the agriculture produce like wheat and rice.
• All these initiatives by the government also led to an increase in gross capital formation in agriculture.

Outcome of Green Revolution #

• Food production rose by 35% during 1967-68 and 1970-71. This led to increase in food availability as marketable surplus of food-grains increased.
• Net food imports fell from 3 million tonnes in 1966 to 3.6 million tonnes in 1970 and India not only had a buffer of food- grains, but also it started exporting food-grains. It brought prosperity to farmers.
• Moreover, as a result of Agro-industries, warehousing for agricultural produce, transport, fertilizers, manufacturing of farm equipment’s etc resulted in an increase in the overall employment in the country.
• Further, the surplus generated under the Green Revolution helped the government to launch schemes for employment generation. This had a major impact on poverty alleviation.
• The need for agricultural equipment contributed to industrial growth and the attitude of farmers towards farming changed. They started investing in agriculture, thereby shifting to capitalist farming.

Criticism of Green Revolution #

• The Green Revolution was criticized for concentrating resources in the regions like Punjab, Haryana, and Western Uttar Pradesh that already had certain advantages.
• This further increased regional inequalities.
• The benefits of the Green Revolution were cornered by the big farmers, at the expense of small farmers and tenants.
• This contributed to increase in inequality and the mechanization of agriculture led to rural unemployment.
• Excessive use of chemical fertilizers resulted in environmental degradation and the groundwater tables, especially in Punjab, was criticized for its unsustainability.

Food Corporation of India (FCI): Movements in India Ensuring Food Security and Price Support Operations #

• The Food Corporation of India (FCI) was set up in 1965, under the Food Corporation’s Act 1964.
• It was set up for the purchase, storage, movement, transport, distribution, sale of food-grains and other foodstuffs. It was set up in order to fulfill following objectives of the Food Policy:
• Effective price support operations for safeguarding the interests of the farmers.
• Distribution of food grains throughout the country for public distribution system (PDS).
• Maintaining satisfactory level of operational and buffer stocks of food grains to ensure National Food Security.

Environment Movements in India #

Chipko Movements in India: Forest Conservation and Nonviolent Protest in India #

• The Chipko movement or Chipko Andolan, was a forest conservation movement in India.
• It began in 1970s in Uttarakhand, then a part of Uttar Pradesh (at the foothills of Himalayas) and went on to become a rallying point for many future environmental movements all over the world. It created a precedent for starting nonviolent protest in India.
• It is a movement that practiced methods of Satyagraha
• It was Inspired by Jayaprakash Narayanand the Sarvodaya

Course of these Movements in India #

• This movement began in Uttarakhand when the forest department had refused permission to villagers to fell ash trees for making agricultural tools and allotted the same patch of land to sports manufacturers for commercial use.
• The villagers demanded that no forest exploiting contracts should be given to outsiders and local communities should have effective control over natural resources like land, water and forests.
• Women’s active participation in the Chipko agitation was a very novel aspect of the movement.
• Villagers in general, and women in particular thwarted commercial falling of trees by hugging the trees to prohibit their cutting and the name Chipko originates from this very practice only.
• The movement achieved a victory when the then government issued a ban on felling of trees in the Himalayan regions for fifteen years, until the green cover was fully restored

Way Forward: Impact and Recognition of the Chipko Movements in India in Environmental Conservation #

• Gaura Devi, a middle-aged widow of the village, was a prominent figure of this movement in India.
• After this movement, the Chipko movement inspired many environmental movements and gave rise to a series of forests against commercial felling in Himalayan foothills led by Gandhians and leftists.
• In 1987, the Chipko movement was awarded the “Right Livelihood Award” for its dedication to the conservation, restoration and ecologically-sound use of India’s natural resources.

Narmada Bachao Andolan Movement: Resisting Dam Projects for Environmental Conservation #

• An ambitious developmental project was launched in the Narmada valley of central India in the early 60’s.
• The foundation stone of the dam was laid on April 5, 1961 by the country’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
• The project consisted of 30 big dams, 135 medium sized and around 3000 small dams to be constructed on the Narmada and its tributaries that flow across three states, MP, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
• Sardar Sarovar Project in Gujarat and Narmada Sagar Project in MP were two most important, biggest, multipurpose dams planned under the project.
• The projects mentioned above were aimed to provide drinking water and water for irrigation, generation of electricity and increase in agricultural production.
• Leading by- Medha Patkar and Baba Amte.

Course of Movement: Narmada Bachao Andolan’s Struggle, Achievements, and Key Personalities #

• The project required relocation of about two and half lakh people and 245 villages were expected to get submerged. Initially locals demanded proper relocation and proper rehabilitation.
• It was during the late 80’s that the issue crystallised under the banner of Narmada Bachao Andolan, a loose collective of local voluntary organs.
• NBA demanded a proper cost benefit analysis of the major developmental projects completed in the country so far. It also demanded that social cost should be calculated with respect to such projects.
• Social cost meant forced settlement of project affected people, serious loss of means of livelihood and culture, depletion of ecological resources.
• Because of constant struggle, Right to rehabilitation has been recognized by the government and judiciary.
• A comprehensive National Rehabilitation Policy formed by the government in 2003 can be considered as an achievement of movements like the NBA.
• The mode of campaign under NBA includes court actions, hunger strikes, rallies and gathering support from notable film and art personalities.
• NBA used every available democratic strategy to put forward its demands like Pradarshan, Dharna, Gherao, Rasta Roko, Jail Bharo Aandolan, Bhook Hartal etc.
• Medha Patkar has been at the forefront of the movement. She has organised several fasts and satyagrahas, and been to jail several times for the cause.
• Another popular figure was Baba Amte, known for his work against leprosy. He published a booklet called “Cry O Beloved Narmada”in 1989 to protest against the construction of the dam.
• Amongst the major celebrities who have shown their support for Narmada Bachao Andolan are Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy and Aamir Khan.
• It was also supported by music composer and bass guitarist in the band Indian Ocean, Rahul Ram, who was actively involved in the movement from 1990 to 1995.
• In 1994 was the launch of “Narmada: A Valley Rises” by filmmaker Ali Kazimi. It documents the five-week Sangharsh Yatra of 1991.
• The film went on to win several awards and is considered by many to be a classic on the issue. In 1996, veteran documentary filmmaker, Anand Patwardhan, made an award-winning documentary: A Narmada Diary. Alok Agarwal, current member of the Aam Aadmi Party, is an active figure in the movement.

Way Forward: Narmada Bachao Andolan’s Legal Journey and the Completion of Sardar Sarovar Dam #

• The court ruled for Andolan, effecting an immediate stoppage of work at the dam and directing the concerned states to complete the rehabilitation and replacement process.
• It deliberated on this issue further for several years and finally upheld the Tribunal Award and allowed the construction to proceed, subject to conditions in 2000.
• Finally, in Sept,2017 Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Sardar Sarovar Dam on river Narmada.

Silent Valley Movemens in Indiat/ Save Silent Valley #

Save Silent Valley Movements in India: Conserving Kerala’s Evergreen Treasure, 1973-1978 #

• Save Silent Valley was a social movement aimed at the protection of Silent Valley, an evergreen tropical forest in the Palakkad district of Kerala.
• It was started in 1973 by an NGO led by school teachers and the Kerala Sastra Sahithya Parishad(KSSP) to save the Silent Valley from being flooded by a hydroelectric project

Save Silent Valley Movements in India: Advocacy, Protests, and Conservation Triumph, 1973-1983 #

• After the announcement of imminent dam construction on Kuntipuzha river, as an ideal site for electricity construction “Save silent valley” movements in India was started in 1973 and Kerala Sasthra Sahitya Parishad (K.S.S.P) effectively aroused the public opinion to save silent valley.
• The poetactivist Sugathakumari played an important role in the Silent Valley protest and her poem “Marathinu Stuthi” (“Ode to a Tree:) became a symbol for the protest from the intellectual community and was the opening song/prayer of most of the “save the Silent Valley” campaign meetings.
• Salim Ali, eminent ornithologist of the Bombay Natural History Society, visited the valley and appealed for cancellation of the hydroelectric project.
• In January 1980 the High Court of Kerala lifted the ban on clear cutting, but then the Prime Minister of India requested the Government of Kerala to stop further works in the project area until all aspects were fully discussed.
• In December, the Government of Kerala declared the Silent Valley area, excluding the hydroelectric project area, as a national park.
• In 1982, a multidisciplinary committee with M. G. K. Menon as chairman and Madhav Gadgil, Dilip K. Biswas and others as members, was created to decide if the hydroelectric project was feasible without any significant ecological damage.
• Early in 1983, Menon’s Committee submitted its report. After a careful study of the Menon report, the Prime Minister of India decided to abandon the Project.

Silent Valley Movements in India: Triumph for Conservation #

• Finally, the protesters were successful in 1985, when the then PM Rajiv Gandhi inaugurated silent valley National Park and the park was designated as the core area of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.
• Silent Valley is also famous for the endangered lion-tailed macaque.

Protecting Livelihoods: Fisheries Movements in India

• Both in the eastern and the western coastal area of our country hundreds of thousands of families belonging indigenous fishermen communities are engaged in fishing.
• The livelihood of these fishermen workers was threatened, when the government permitted entry of mechanized trawlers and technologies like bottom trawling for large scale harvest of fish in the Indian seas.
• To protect their interests and livelihood, the fishermen came together on a national level platform as a National Fish workers Forum.
• NFF achieved their first success against the Indian government’s move to open the entry of commercial vessels including MNCs in deep sea.
• In July 2002, NFF called for a nationwide strike to oppose the move of the government to issue licenses to foreign trawlers as well.

Empowering Women: Women’s Movements in India #

Women’s Liberation Before Independence #

It can be divided into 2 phases:

1. Early Reformers

• They condemned social eveils like Purdah, Sati, Female infanticide, Child marriage etc. and initiated reformist movements in India

2. Fight for their own cause

• In this phase, common women started fighting for their own cause

Women’s Liberation Post-Independence #

• After India gained independence, the women’s question disappeared from the public arena for over twenty years with the constitution guaranteeing equality to all its citizens of caste, creed or gender, through articles 14 and 16.
• However, from mid-1960s onwards, disillusionment with the developmental policies and lack of change in conditions of women saw an upsurge of movements in India around:
• Land rights & equality
• Security of employment & wages
• Population policies
• Atrocities on women (including rape and liquor related domestic violence).
• From the 1970s onwards, various movements in India were launched, sometimes localized, sometimes with a bigger spatial reach, on these issues, and public awareness of these has therefore heightened.

National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) #

• lt was established in 1954 by several leaders from Mahila Atma Raksha Samiti, a women’s movement in Bengal linked to Communist Party of India.
• It was the first women mass organization which brought women from all walks of life and worked for their empowerment, emancipation and building a gender just society and country.
• It combined mobilization for awareness raising, mass campaigns around all issues and developments that impact women’s lives with such constructive work projects as adult literacy centers, production units for needy women, training for employment, free legal aid for victims of violence and social oppression.
• It has played a crucial role in pressurizing the Union government at different times to bring in gender sensitive laws such as Hindu Code Bill 1956, Dowry Prohibition Act 1961, Maternity Entitlement Act, Domestic Violence Prevention Act, among others.
• Many eminent personalities and well-known freedom fighters were associated with NFIW like Aruna Asaf Ali, Pushpamoye Bose, Renu Chakravartty, Hazara Begum, Geeta Mukherjee, Anasuya Gyanchad, Vimla Dang, Vimla Farroqui.

The Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) #

• The Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) was born in 1972 as a trade union of self-employed women, at the initiative of Ela Bhatt.
• Women involved in different trades were brought together by their shared experiences of low earnings, harassment at home, harassment by contractors and the police, poor work conditions, nonrecognition of their labour to list just a few.
• It grew out of the Textile Labour Association, India’s oldest and largest union of textile workers founded in 1920 by a woman, Anasuya Sarabhai, who had been inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s involvement in the Ahmedabad textile strike in 1917.
• SEWA aimed at improving the working conditions of women through:
• A process of training
• Technical aid, legal literacy
• Collective bargaining
• To teach values of honesty, dignity and simplicity, (the Gandhian goals) to which SEWA subscribes
• Its main goals are to organize women workers for:
• Full employment: intends women to have work security, income security, food security and social security
• Self-reliance: intends women to be autonomous and self-reliant, both economically and in terms of their decision-making ability.

Consumer Uprising: Anti-Price Rise Movements in India in 1970s

• In 1973, the United Women’s Anti-Price Rise Front was formed to mobilize women against inflation, as a result of drought and famine conditions that affected rural Maharashtra in early 1970’s.
• It took the shape of mass women’s movements in India for consumer protection and demanded the government to fix minimum prices and to distribute essential commodities.
• Large groups of women, between 10,000 and 20,000, would hold demonstrations at government offices, houses of Members of Parliament and merchants.
• Those who could not get out of their homes would express their support by beating thalis (metal plates) with lathis or belans (rolling pins).
• The Anti-Price Rise movements in India spread to the neighbouring state of Gujarat, where it was called the Nav Nirman The movement has the distinction of being the only movement in post-independence India that led to the dissolution of an elected government of the state.
• It started as a student’s movements in India and later grew into a middle-class movement that attracted thousands of women.
• The spiraling costs, corruption and black marketing in the state were the causes that flared the agitation in the state
• The methods used by the protesting women and students included:
• Mock courts where judgments were passed on corrupt state officials and politicians.
• Mock funeral processions.
• Processions to greet the dawn of a new era.

Anti-Liquor Movements in India #

• Anti-liquor movements in India have a history of their own since the pre-independence and they continue to erupt from different parts of the country at different points in time.
• Two prominent movements in India were in:

Prohibition Triumph: Uttarakhand’s Anti-Liquor Movements in India #

• In 1963, Vimla and Sunderlal Bahuguna, started a movement in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand against the awarding of contracts to sell liquor in a village close to the ashram, set up by members of the Sarvodaya movement. The government agreed to cancel the contract.
• Later, the movements in India spread to draw women, who picketed the liquor shops, demanding prohibition on sale of liquor, ultimately forcing them to close.
• Protests continued in the following years, with many women being jailed, for protesting and picketing liquor shops.
• Eventually, in 1972 the government agreed to impose prohibition in Uttarakhand.

Ardent Opposition: Women’s Movements in India Against Arrack in Andhra Pradesh #

• In a village in the interior of Dubagunta in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, women had registered in the Adult Literacy Drive on a large scale in the early 1990s.
• It is during the discussion in the class that women complained of increased consumption of a locally brewed alcohol – arrack – by men in their families
• A discontent had been brewing among the women in the region due to following reasons:
• Increased consumption of locally prepared alcohol by men in their families.
• The habit of alcoholism, which had taken deep roots among the village people, was ruining the physical and mental health of men.
• It affected the rural economy of the region as indebtess grew.
• The contractors of alcohol engaged in crime for securing their monopoly over the arrack trade.
• Women were the worst sufferers as it resulted in the collapse of the family economy and they had to bear the brunt of violence from the male family members, particularly the husband.

Spread of the movements in India #

• Women in Nellore came together in spontaneous local initiatives to protest against arrack and forced closure of the wine shop.
• Some women even armed themselves with sticks, chili powder and broomsticks and forced the nearby arrack shops to shut down.
• The news spread fast and women of about 5000 villages got inspired and met together in meetings, passed resolutions for imposing prohibition and sent them to the District Collector.
• These movements in India in Nellore District slowly spread all over the State.
• The movements in India ultimately forced the government to ban alcoholic beverages throughout the state in 1995 but it was later abandoned partially in 1997.

Critical Analysis of Women’s Movements in India #

• After independence, women from diverse castes, classes and communities participated in the movements in India along with activists drawn from a variety of political trends, parties and groups belonging to various ideologies making the movements in India heterogeneous.
• These campaigns contributed a great deal in increasing overall social awareness about women’s questions. Focus of the women’s movements in India gradually shifted from legal reforms to open social confrontations.
• In the pre-independence phase, they were dominated by only certain classes of women, while in the post- independence phase, they have seen participation from various sections of women and are not limited to any particular section.
• Cases like Shah Bano were seen politically rather than on gender equality basis.
• The Labour division was still viewed by feminists as being on gender lines and there was not much change on the ground in the status of women.

Crusading for Equality: Dalit Movements in India #

Dalit Movements in India #

• The term, ‘Dalit’ was perhaps first used by Jyotirao Phule in the nineteenth century in context of the oppression faced by the erstwhile “untouchable” castes among the Hindus
• It signified the socio-economic position of the untouchables within the country, especially among the Hindus.
• The contemporary use of the term Dalit has moved away from its earlier meaning of oppression faced by the “untouchables” and has become a new political identity.
• The Dalits in India, through the ages, have organized several movements in India in different parts of the country for their rights of justice and equality.

Anti-Hindu Movements in India #

• Re-emergence of Bhakti – It was an egalitarian religion exclusive to the untouchables which developed into a religious movements in India and argued that ‘Bhakti’ was a religion of the original inhabitants and rulers of India, the Adi-Hindus, from whom the untouchables claimed to have descended
• literate untouchables– The new generation of literate untouchables, who led the movements in India, argued that the social division of labour based on caste status was an imposition forced on Indian society by the Aryan conquerors, who had subjugated the Adi-Hindu rulers and made them servile labourers.
• disassociate low-caste status– This ideology strove to disassociate low-caste status from menial occupation considered as impure and thus challenged imposition of ‘low’ social roles, functions and occupations
• Attracted the mass of the untouchables– The Anti- Hindu ideology attracted the mass of the untouchables and it provided a historical explanation for the poverty and deprivation of the untouchables and presented a vision of their past power and rights, and hopes of regaining such lost rights.

Gandhi’s Initiatives in Dalit Movements in India #

• In 1920, Mahatma Gandhi for the first time brought the practice of “untouchability” into the national movements in India and a matter of public concern by inserting an appeal to eradicate Hinduism from its scourge in the Nagpur resolution of the Congress.
• He even launched a campaign for the welfare of the “untouchables”, which failed to get much support from the caste Hindu.
• He later used the term Harijan meaning people of Hari or God to refer to the untouchables.
• He even opposed the idea of separate electorate, as provided by the communal award in 1932, because he believed that once the depressed classes were separated from the rest of the Hindus there would be no ground to change Hindu society’s attitude towards them.

Dalit Movements in India and Constitutional Provisions #

• It included the erstwhile Dalits and certain other castes in schedules on the basis of their social and economic disabilities. Thereafter, the Dalits came to be referred to as the Scheduled Castes or SCs, as per the term used in the constitution.
• It guaranteed and secured all the citizens of India, irrespective of caste, religion, sex, colour or place of birth, justice, social economic and political, equality of status, of opportunity, and before the law.

Dalit Panthers Movements in India #

• In the early 1970s, an organization calling itself the Dalit Panthers was formed with the project of instituting class-based Dalit politics.
• Dalit Panther as a social organization was founded by Namdev Dhasal in April 1972 in Mumbai.
• It was a part of a countrywide wave of radical politics which reflected in use of creative literature to bring out the plight of Dalits.
• Though the movements in India took birth in the slums of Bombay, it spread out to cities and villages throughout the country, proclaiming revolt.
• The Panthers gave a call for the unity of Dalit politicians under Ambedkar’s movement, and they attempted to counter violence against untouchables in the villages.
• They also stirred public attention through the emerging Dalit Sahitya, the literature of the oppressed.
• The Dalit Panthers rapidly became popular and mobilized Dalit youth and students and insisted that they use the term Dalit as against any other available term for self-description. In course, the Dalit Panthers became an important political force, especially in the cities.
• However, it was not to escape the contagion of internal splits that were to afflict other Dalit organizations.
• Post Emergency, serious differences started to emerge in the organization over whether or not to include non-Dalit poor and non-Buddhist Dalits.
• A debate that mostly centered around Culture versus Economy, and also differences based on personalities for example Raja Dhale vs Namdeo Desai, led to its most factions merging or allying with the Congress.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Movements in India #

• In North India a new political party called Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) emerged in 1980’s under the leadership of Kanshi Ram (and later Mayawati who went on to become the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh).
• BSP declared electoral power as its basic strategy and aim, which can be seen in its political history, where it is willing to ally with any mainstream political party to further its political power.
• It succeeded in gaining a sufficient political base in northern states such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab which raised its significance in coalition politics.

Dalit Movements in India and Capitalism Initiatives #

• At a conference in Bhopal in 2002, Dalit intellectuals argued that the retreat of the state in the era of globalization will bring diminishing returns if they depended only on reservations.
• Since then, Dalit intellectuals have proved that capitalism is the best way to break caste in the modern economy.
• Dalit control of means of production, more broadly referred to as Dalit capitalism, has also been proposed as means to Dalit emancipation from the clutches of social discrimination
• It has been premised on the argument that it is easier to shake off economic backwardness than escape the shadow of social discrimination.
• In recent years, this attempt to be entrepreneurs among the Dalits has been gaining momentum.
• The government too has initiated a number of schemes such as MUDRA Yojana, under which loans up to Rs. 10 Lakhs would be provided to small businesses, and Stand-Up India, under which loans between Rs. 10 Lakhs and Rs. 1 Crore would be facilitated to SCs, STs and at least one woman per branch.

Impact and Analysis of Dalit Movements in India #

• Practice of Hindu Customs – It is seen that Buddhist converts in villages have not given up their old gods and goddesses, and they still celebrate their festivals in the same way they used to do before. Thus, despite conversion, it is apparent that Dalit’s feel equality only when they are able to practice the religious rites that were earlier denied to them.
• Struggle against the Dalit plight– Gandhi’s understanding of struggle against the Dalit plight that emphasized gaining religious equality via temple entry and reforming the caste system from within stands validated to some extent.
• Reservation-It helps in bringing equitable growth even within the Scheduled Castes.
• Process of socio-economic change– The process of socio-economic change, industrialization, globalization, schemes such as rural employment guarantee scheme, right to education, mid-day meal system, the extension of primary health and education centers, the campaign of abolition of child labour has been crucial in raising the overall status of Dalit’s in the society.
• Provision for house sites– The provision for house sites in villages have reduced their vulnerability from looming threat by the upper caste having them thrown out of the villages as punishment. Land redistribution where it has occurred has reduced the stigma attached to landlessness.
• Delinking of caste system– The delinking of caste system attached to traditional occupation has also been critical. As a result of many such initiatives, untouchability in urban areas has virtually disappeared and is on a decline in rural areas especially in those rural areas where the opportunities for employment have increased.
• Positive social measures– It is seen that the link between caste and literacy is strong which can be seen in overall literacy rate of lower caste, especially that of women. It is possible to reduce this inequality only through positive social measures, such as compulsory primary and even secondary education and employment guarantee schemes

Era of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) – Movements in India and Developments #

• The main objective behind any innovation in technology is to ensure that it provides comfort, leisure, productivity and a better quality of life and built environment to its citizens.
• In India, the path towards technology induced development, especially associated with ICT, was given a vent in 1984 by the Rajiv Gandhi government.
• He adopted an effective route to development with a massive programme of computerization, launched in the public sectors as well as in commercial and the public sectors undertakings and in administrative departments.
• By 1985, large sectors had announced computerization plans, which included railways, banking operations, schools etc.
• In 1998, National Task Force on Information Technology and Software Development prepared the blueprint for making the adoption of IT as a national movements in India by establishing a wide network of empowered task forces at all governmental & non-governmental levels.
• In 1999, the Ministry of Information Technology was established by bringing together government agencies involved in different aspects of IT for creating jobs to harness opportunities provided by convergence of communication technologies and to facilitate the use of IT in use of Electronic Governance.
• ICT generates new possibilities to address problems of rural poverty, inequality and environmental degradation. In India, the growth of information technology and communications has been very significant in the past two decades.
• IT Industry in India comprises software industry and information technology enabled services (ITES) which also includes BPO industry.
• India is considered as a pioneer in software development and a favourite destination for IT-enabled services (ITES).
• Many other countries look to India as a model for global outsourcing and try to imitate elements of this in their own strategies.
• The Government of India and respective state governments in India use ICT for delivery of government information and services to citizens (G2C), business (G2B), employees (G2E), and governments (G2G).
• The Government of India initiated an e-government programme during the late 1990’s by adopting the Information Technology Act in 2000.
• The major aims of this Act were to recognize electronic contracts, prevent computer crimes and make electronic filing possible. Later in 2006, the Government approved the National e governance Plan (NeGP) to enhance e government initiatives in India.
• Almost all state governments and UTs have also implemented their own e government services to serve their citizens and business. Some of the most prominent services include “Bhoomi” from Karnataka, “Gyandoot” from MP, “Smart government” from Andhra Pradesh, “SARI” from Tamil Nadu.

Previous Year Questions- #

• Critically discuss the objectives of Bhoodan and Gramdan Movements in India initiated by Acharya Vinoba Bhave and their success. (2013)
• Write a critical note on the evolution and significance of the slogan “Jai Jawana Jai Kisan” (2013)