The Jats: Their Role and Contribution to the Socio-Economic Life and Polity of North and North-West India (Volume 5)

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

The present publication fifth in the series of Jats: Their Role and Contribution to the Socio-economic Life and Polity of North and North-west India represents selected papers presented in the National Seminar on the topic Contemporary Socio-economic Problems of the Peasant Community of North and North-West India and Remedial Measures' organized by Maharaja Surajmal Centre for Research and Publication, on 31" August 2013. The volume includes eighteen research papers, which brought together here show an attempt to discuss various economic and social problems of more than two-third population of India, who are directly dependent on agriculture. In these papers not only problems of the peasant society have been formulated in all their bewildering complexity and variety, but the authors have also offered scientific diagnosis and solutions to these problems. Fact is this that in absence of development in rural society, India can never claim to be These papers concentrate also on the question of contribution of agrarian policies adopted in postindependence India and in what manner they have influenced the village population. Related to the above two questions is the third part of the query, i.e. in what manner a progressive transformation of production relations in agriculture and socio-economic conditions could be Thus this collection provides a chance to the readers to share new researches and ideas on the specified theme.

Dr. Rajendra Kumar, a double Ph.D. in literature and history, is presently Director of Maharaja Suralmal Centre for Research and Publication, Surajmal Memorial Education Society, C-4, Janakpuri, New Delhi. A man of languages, taught Russian and French languages for over two decades, he is well versed in the history of the Jats and the one who knows how to locate, decipher and analyze the sources of history. His previous publications include various articles on Jat history.

It is a matter of immense pleasure for me to write a few words about this significant publication of the proceedings of the Seminar, 'Contemporary Socio-economic Problems of the Peasant Community of North and North-West India and Remedial Measures', organized by Maharaja Surajmal Centre for Research and Publication, Surajmal Memorial Education Society in the series of The Jats: Their Role and Contribution to the Socio-economic Life and Polity of North and North-west India on 31st August 2013. The Seminar drew response from scholars, sociologists, economists, historians and representatives of several voluntary organisations. In all 27 papers were presented and discussed. Selected research papers presented are included in this collection which discuss the various economic and social problems of more than two-third population of India, directly dependent on agriculture.

The present publication, fifth in the series of "The Jats: Their Role and Contribution to the Socio-economic Life and Polity of North and North-West India,' represents selected papers presented in the National Seminar on the topic Contemporary Socio-economic Problems of the Peasant Community of North and North-West India and Remedial Measures' organized by Maharaja Surajmal Centre for Research and Publication, on 31st August 2013. The topic itself is very significant. Question arose, why seminar on 'Socio-economic Problems' by the Centre whose field is historical research on rural heritage, especially relating to the life and role of the Jats in national endeavour? And the question itself has its answer. As all know, last century saw the emergence of a new trend in history other than political history, that is, social history which with a great deal of labour distinguished itself from Political history, and by its emergence the political history was pushed behind. Social history came up freeing itself from the bondage of political incidence, marked by too much emphasis on it. The ideology of Karl Marx brought new categories for determining the course of materialistic history. Through his dialectical materialism, Marx tucked history to the past, not to the present, no to the future. Though incidents are there, but they are not important or emphasized because they have not deterministic role to play. Marx's formulations put forth .transforming social formations based on the changing face of political economy, ultimately to a society. He did not formulate the pace of history as it will go about in future or as it is today. He only dispensed that economic conditions of people, in history, is a guide to the present or to the future and only provided a theoretical understanding of it as it happened in the past. Thus it can be assumed that Marx proclaimed the end of political history. That seems his presupposition, and that presupposition did not come about as true. However, it gave birth to the economic history-study of economic conditions of people of certain place and period, and its impact on the social, political and cultural life of people. And social and economic conditions of the people of particular area in particular time determine its role in history. Regarding the terms Jat, and Peasant, if we go with Ghurye, Jat and Peasant are same thing and who would believe that a person is a Jat and has no land holding? Or does not belong to the rural society? So, many times when we use the term Jat we mean to say a peasant. Hence the topic of the seminar is 'Contemporary Socio- economic Problems of the Peasant Community of North and North-West India and Remedial Measures'.