Abolition of Intermediaries

Intermediaries are a term from the zone of the political world but later it has become a term of both political and geographical sectors. The zamindars in ancient India were regarded as the intermediates because they worked for both the people and for the market. In the former time, it was quite fair for the poor people who grew the crops for everyone. Later as time went, it started turning out to be a bad culture. Bengal and the UP at that time had more zamindars compared to other states. This culture was brought up because many poor people cannot deal directly with the customers, thus they need someone who can take the product from them and sell it into the market. 

These people commonly enter with the producers in a long-term allegiance and make the producers aware of the marketing channels. These people were called intermediates at that time. There are the manufacturers who collect the raw materials from the intermediaries, produce the product in their way, and sell those kinds of stuff in the market. However, there were many more things regarding the intermediary service that need not have happened but it took place and made the whole culture go into the darkness. The intermediaries in other words were called the Zamindars and they were the third parties who worked for both the producers and manufacturers. Because of some definite issues the zamindari system that was the intermediaries has been abolished under the ‘Zamindari act’ of 1950. 

Roles of the intermediaries 

The intermediates of the ancient time and at the beginning of the British period were the ones who can only drive the complete marketing process. After the British came to India, they started to decrease the roles of the intermediates. Though the intermediates played a crucial role at the time, later they started evading the poor. The intermediaries had friendly behaviour at the beginning of this culture and later they started exhibiting their negative sides to the masses. Initially, they took the products that had been assembled through the farmers and sold them to the manufacturers in the market. It was because the intermediaries were much more educated than the poor farmers were and they had the knowledge to deal with the manufacturer. The farmers had a great belief in the intermediaries and they proved themselves in the right way to the farmers at the beginning.

Along with this basic role, the intermediaries play some more important roles as well. They sometimes introduced the farmers to the manufacturers and helped them to gain knowledge about the way of producing more crops. Intermediaries also regulate the progress of production and ensure product feasibility. The intermediaries ensured the price of the products and other contracts, which is one of the big responsibilities and roles at the same time. The smallholders and the other companies had to be identified by the intermediaries because the farmers were not capable enough of doing the thing, as it needs to be. 

Causes of abolition of the intermediaries

The intermediaries in ancient India were the important parties for playing the roles for the marketing sector and the farmers as well. The major objective of the British rulers was to gain much of the revenue from the Indians. One of the crucial systems of that time was the Zamindari system and at the same time the Ryotwari system. Under the Zamindari system, the property rights of lands were delivered to the rent collectors who were at that time the local ones. The intermediaries have established themselves in a very important position but later they have started to greed and that has caused their abolition. This settlement transformed the proper ‘cultivators’ into ‘tenants’. This sort of structural transition in the land system has created a brand new class that is called the intermediaries, those who work in between the soil tillers and the state.

They also started swindling along with the intermediaries and created a culture where the poor suffer much. The intermediaries captured the lands of the farmers and started cultivating in their way without providing any amount to the farmers. The lands of the poor farmers started losing from them because of these intermediaries. This is also a big reason for the abolishing of the intermediaries in India. Straight away after independence, the Indian government started abolishing the intermediary services that are in other words called the zamindari system. 

Conclusion 

Intermediaries are people who works as middle-men between the cultivators and the market. They usually have long term- allegiance with the producers and the market. Abolition of Intermediaries comes into play when the cultivators are converted into tenants by them.