This paper seeks to map the impact and changes in the traditional Indian economy by the forces of marketisation and monetisation. The authors conducted their studies in two villages of Bihar's Purnia district in the years 1971, 1981 and 1999. As the comparative study revealed, despite the decline in mechanisms of semi-feudalism and a rise in labour income corresponding to a decline in agricultural income; traditional forms of wage repayment as sharecropping continued. Ills of a previous decade such as high mortality, female illiteracy and poor health systems persisted, revealing not merely the inadequacy of existing social institutions but also an absence of much needed state support.
