Page 1 - Lessonnote_Change and Development in Rural Society

Class-XII

Chapter-11

Book-2

Change and Development in Rural Society

Lesson Notes

Indian society is primarily a rural society

➢ The majority of India’s people live in rural areas, approx. 67 per cent.

➢ They make their living from agriculture or related occupations.
➢ Land is also the most important form of property. But land is not just a ‘means of
production’ or just a ‘form of property’.
➢ Nor is agriculture just a form of livelihood. It is also a way of life. Many of our cultural
practices and patterns can be traced to our agrarian backgrounds.

Agriculture and Culture

➢ There is a close connection between agriculture and culture.
➢ The nature and practice of agriculture varies greatly across the different regions of
the country. These variations are reflected in the different regional cultures.
➢ One can say that both the culture and social structure in rural India are closely bound
up with agricultural and the agrarian way of life

Occupation and Rural population

➢ Agriculture is the single most important sources of livelihood for the majority of the

rural population.
➢ Many activities also support agriculture and village life and are also sources of
livelihood for people in rural India.
➢ Rural life also supported many other specialists and crafts persons as storytellers,
astrologers, priests, water-distributors, oil- pressures.
➢ The diversity of occupations in rural India was reflected in the caste system, which in
most regions included specialist and ‘service’ castes such as Washermen, Potters,
and Goldsmiths.

➢ Some of these traditional occupations have declined. But increasing interconnection
of the rural and urban economies have led to many diverse occupations.