DON BOSCO HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL
PART-B
CHAPTER-1
STATE OF INDIAN ECONOMY ON THE EVE OF INDEPENDENCE
Answer the following questions:
1.What is Indian economy?
Ans: An economy is the aggregate of economic activities in a country or
geographical area in which various types of goods and services are produced,
distributed and consume.
2. What are the main sectors of Indian economy?
Ans: Indian economy broadly classifies into three sector and they are as
follows:
i. Primary sectors which consists of agricultural and allied activities such
as animal husbandry, fisheries etc.
ii. Secondary sectors consist of all manufacturing and construction
activities.
iii. Tertiary industry, which includes banking, insurance, transport,
communication, warehousing.
3. What are the features of Indian economy at the time of independence?
Are: The features of Indian economy at the time of independence are:
i. Colonial economy: At the time of independence, Indian economy was
having the status of colonial economy. Colonial economy is governed by
foreign rulers and economic policies and decision are taken by ruler
country.
ii. Semi-feudal economy: It was one of the features of the Indian economy
during British rule. In this system British correctly revenue according
to their own will.
iii. Stagnant economy: During British rule, Indian economy was stagnant.
The growth rate of Indian economy was less than two per cent during
the first half of twentieth century.
iv. Backward economy: During the British rule, Indian economy was
backward economy because the per capita income and standard of
living was very low.
v. Depleted economy: It was another feature of Indian economy during
the British rule because there was lost in real values or physical assets,
finished goods etc declined considerably.
vi. Dependent economy: Before the British came to India, India was a self-
reliant economy. But the British turned the Indian economy as
dependent economy.
4. What are the causes of backwardness of Indian agriculture during the
British rule?
Ans:
i. Less utilization of agricultural inputs. For eg- seeds, fertilizers,
irrigation etc.
ii. Existence of large number of middleman.
iii. Increasing pressure of population land.
iv. Most of the Indian farmers are illiterate.
5. Indicate the volume and direction of trade at the time of Independence?
Ans: The composition, volume and direction of foreign trade had undergone a
significant change during the British period:
Volume of trade: Indian had a large export surplus. Its exports exceeded the
imports. During 1947-48, India’s exports and imports were estimated at
RS.403 crore and RS.389 crore and thus generating an export surplus of
RS.14 crore.
Direction of trade: More than half of India’s foreign trade was restricted to
Britain. The rest was allowed with a few other countries like China, Ceylon
(Sri Lanka) and Persia (Iran). The opening of Suez Canal in 1869 further
intensified British control over India’s foreign trade.
6. What objectives did the British intend to achieve through their policies of
infrastructure development in India?
Ans: During the British rule, some basic infrastructure was developed in the
form of railways, water transport, posts and telegraph etc. However, the real
intention behind these developments was to serve their own colonial interest.
The main motives of British rulers behind the development of
infrastructure in India were:
i. To have effective control and administration over the last Indian
territory. For this, Britishers linked important administrative and
military centers through railway lines.
ii. To earn profits through foreign trade. For this they linked railways with
major ports and marketing centers.
iii. To create an opportunity for profitable investment of British funds in
India.
iv. To mobilize army within India and carrying out raw materials through
roads to the nearest railway station or to the port to send it to Britain.
7. Were there any positive contribution made by the British in India? Discuss.
Ans: British rule exploited India in many ways. But the ways to achieve the
motives sometimes yield positive effects. Some of these positive effects were:
i. Commercialization of agriculture implied a good breakthrough in
agriculture and resulted in self-sufficiency in food grain production.
ii. The development of infrastructure, railways and roadways generated
new opportunities for economic and social growth and broke cultural
and geographical barriers.
iii. Railways promoted commercialization of agriculture through long
distance movement of goods and it enabled people to move from one
place to another easily.
iv. The supply of food and essential could be made available to drought
affected areas through transportation.
v. Indian economy witnessed a huge expansion of monetary system and
growth in production through division of labour and specialization.
8. How did Indian railways affect the structure of India economy?
Ans: The railways affected the structure of India economy in the following
manner:
Indian industrial development i.e cotton textiles industry in Bombay,
jute industry in Kolkata, tea plantation in Assam and Bengal are
their development to the expansion of railways.
It enables people to move from one region to another.
It encourages commercialization of Indian organization and their
affected adversity the self-sufficiency of India village economy.
The volume of India’s export rate expanded subsequently.
9. Which challenges were present before Indian economy at the time of
Independence?
Ans:
Little industrialization and decline of handicrafts.
Low agricultural output and high imports of grains.
Low figure of national income and per capita income which showed
extreme poverty.
Very sluggish economic progress.
Unemployment and underemployment.
Very high infant mortality rate, low life expectancy and low standard of
living.
10. In pre-British period village community was isolated and self-sufficient.
How?
Ans: . In pre-British period village community was isolated and self-sufficient
because agricultural and handicraft industry were interdependent and thus
the village republics were able to function independently. Indian villages were
almost self-sufficient in respect of daily necessities expecting commodities like
salt, spices, fine cloth, luxury and semi-luxury goods.
11. What were the main causes of India’s agricultural stagnation during the
colonial period?
Ans: Indian agriculture was primitive and stagnant. The main causes of
stagnation of agriculture sector were as follows:
i. Land tenure system: There were three forms of land tenure system
introduced by the British rulers in India. These were:
a) Zamindari system.
b) Mahalwari system
c) Ryotwari system
In the zamindari system, zamindars or landlords were the owners of the
land. The actual collections by zamindars were much higher than what
they had to pay to the government. zamindari system led to multiplication
of middleman between cultivators and government, absentee landlordism,
exploitation of peasants by unsympathetic agents and enmity between
landlords and tenants.
ii. Commercialization of agriculture: commercialization of agriculture
means production of crops for sale consumption. Farmers were forced
to cultivate commercial crops like indigo. Indigo was required by the
textile industry in Britain for dyeing of the textiles. As a result, there
was fall in the production of food crops.
iii. Partition of the country: partition of the country in 1947 also adversely
affected India’s agricultural production. The rich food producing areas
of west Punjab and Sindh went to Pakistan. It created food crises in the
country. Also, the whole fertile land under jute production went to East
Pakistan. The jute industry was most severely affected due to partition.
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