Lagaan, a land revenue tax, is levied on 60 percent of the cultivated land of a village. The total lagaan collected is Rs. 3,84,000 and farmer Sukhiya pays Rs. 480. What percentage of the taxable land area of the village belongs to Sukhiya?

Introduction / Context:
This question deals with percentage share and proportional reasoning in the context of land revenue, called lagaan. The tax is levied uniformly on taxable land, so the lagaan paid by a single farmer is directly proportional to the taxable land area owned by that farmer. We have to convert this relationship into a percentage of the total taxable land.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Lagaan is levied on 60 percent of the cultivated land in the village, called taxable land.
• Total lagaan collected from all taxable land is Rs. 3,84,000.
• Farmer Sukhiya pays lagaan of Rs. 480.
• Lagaan per unit area of taxable land is uniform for all farmers.
• We need the percentage of Sukhiya land as a share of the total taxable land.

Concept / Approach:
Since lagaan is directly proportional to taxable land area and the rate is the same for everyone, the ratio of Sukhiya tax to total lagaan is equal to the ratio of his taxable land to the total taxable land. Therefore percentage share of taxable land can be found simply as (Sukhiya lagaan divided by total lagaan) multiplied by 100. The 60 percent information tells us which part of total cultivated land is taxed, but for this calculation we only care about the taxed portion because both numerator and denominator refer to taxable land only.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Let total taxable land area be T units and Sukhiya taxable land be S units.Step 2: Since lagaan is uniform, lagaan is proportional to area. Therefore S / T = Sukhiya lagaan / total lagaan.Step 3: Substitute values: S / T = 480 / 384000.Step 4: Compute the fraction 480 / 384000. This simplifies to 1 / 800.Step 5: Convert this fraction into percentage: (1 / 800) * 100 = 0.125 percent.

Verification / Alternative check:
Check with mental calculation by reducing stepwise. Divide numerator and denominator by 48: 480 / 48 = 10, 384000 / 48 = 8000. So the fraction becomes 10 / 8000, which reduces to 1 / 800. Now think of 1 percent as 1 / 100. Then 1 / 800 is eight times smaller than 1 / 100, so it is 0.125 percent, since 1 / 8 equals 0.125. This confirms our result without a calculator.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
The value 0.15 percent is slightly larger than the correct share and does not match the precise ratio. The value 15 percent is far too large, suggesting that Sukhiya pays a huge portion of the village tax, which contradicts the small payment of Rs. 480 compared with Rs. 3,84,000. The value 1.25 percent is ten times the correct fraction. The value 0.25 percent is exactly double the correct share. Only 0.125 percent matches the computed proportion S / T.

Common Pitfalls:
A common mistake is to confuse 0.125 with 12.5 percent or 1.25 percent due to misplaced decimal points. Another issue is to mix up cultivated land and taxable land. In this question, both the total lagaan and Sukhiya lagaan are calculated only on taxable land, so the 60 percent of cultivated land detail does not need to enter the ratio explicitly. Students should focus on the direct proportion between tax paid and taxable area owned.

Final Answer:
The percentage of total taxable land belonging to Sukhiya is 0.125%, so the correct option is 0.125%.