The Green Revolution's role in bringing social change in India: 

(a) Background of Green Revolution: As population rose, consequently the demand for food grew, India found itself depending upon food imports to feed its teeming millions. The situation warranted a close look at increasing agricultural productivity and the answer that finally helped India to become self-sufficient in food has been termed the "Green Revolution", which is a name given to the dramatic changes brought about in the field of agriculture.

(b) Impact of the Green Revolution: We shall now examine the impact of the "Green Revolution" on social relationships and analyse the social change it brought about.

Green Revolution started in India in the late 1960s in selected regions of the country. The focus at this stage was on what and the strategy adopted was to combine the use of capital and technology to boost yields. Thus credit, machines, high yield seeds, irrigation and fertilisers become crucial inputs, almost is critical as the and itself. Large forms were favoured as they lent themselves easily to mechanised farming. The results were stunning as from yields surpassed expectations and the country soon moved from a net importer of food grains to one which maintained a buffer stock. 

While the output was significantly higher than earlier, the outcome was not necessarily a positive one for all states and for all sections of society at large.

(i) The increasing importance of large tracts of farmland and of capital gave a distinct advantage to that section of society, which had access to them. Relationships, based on land, gave way to an employer-employee relationship, commonly seen in industrial activities.

(ii) Since land reforms had been unevenly implemented in various parts of the country, the Green Revolution was confined to the selected states where it was initiated. This, in turn, triggered large-scale seasonal migration from states like Orissa, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to Punjab and Haryana-the cradle of the Green Revolution. In social terms, the karta of these families in Orissa, Bihar and U.P. were now absent from their villages for a large part of the year. This had a great impact on the family relationship.

(iii) Additionally, another significant outcome was a widening of inequality across states in general and among the "landed" and the "landless" in particular. Finally, the middle castes who had gained access to land in the wake of land reforms became the biggest beneficiaries of these changes and slowly emerged as a

dominant force in Indian politics.