Rural institutions and planned change in agriculture : A comparative perspective in two Punjabs

Rural institutions were employed by governments in the Indian and Pakistan Punjabs during the mid-1960s for bringing about planned agricultural change in their respective regions. In spite of heavy intervention in agricultural input supplies and distribution (including credit) small farmers in general appear to have been deprived either in their access to these inputs or in the distributional process of these institutions. Although initial inequalities continue in the Pakistan Punjab, the trend toward poverty appears to have reversed in the Indian Punjab, where the institutions continue to be biased towards commercial agriculture and not towards landlords and large farmers. In contrast, rural institutions in Pakistan Punjab are captured by larger farmers who use the benefits to further modernize agriculture pursuits but do not share the benefits with less powerful neighbours. The general conclusion is that the economic context in which the rural institutions operate in Indian Punjab has major impact on the character of power relationships there and decisions within the institutions. Market conditions and the policy context have induced changes in the institutional behaviour in the Indian Punjab, that is not clearly evident in the Pakistan Punjab. (Pak Development Rev/DÜI)