ECONOMICS CLASS XI�PART B : INDIANECONOMIC� DEVELOPMENT�

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UNIT 6 : DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCE (1947-1990) and ECONOMIC REFORMS SINCE 1991

CHAPTER : INDIAN ECONOMY ON THE EVE OF INDEPENDENCE

INDRANI SENGUPTA

PGT ECO,

K. V. NO 2 SALTLAKE

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XII

TODAY’S TOPICS

• Foreign Trade
• Demographic Condition
• Occupational Structure
• Infrastructure

FOREIGN TRADE

India has been an important trading nation since ancient time. But the restrictive policies pursued by the Colonial Government adversely affected the structure, composition and volume of India’s foreign trade.

FOREIGN TRADE

Composition of trade means items of exports and imports.

Direction of trade means to the countries to which a country exports its goods & services and the countries from which it imports.

Volume of trade means the quantum (value) of export and import of a country .

• Composition of India's Trade :India became an exporter of primary products such as raw silk, cotton, wool, sugar, indigo, jute, etc and an importer of finished consumer goods like cotton, silk and woollen clothes and capital goods like light machinery.
• Direction of Trade: Britain maintained a monopoly control over India's exports and imports. More than half of India's foreign trade was restricted to Britain while the rest was
• allowed with a few

countries like China,

Ceylon (Sri Lanka)

and Persia (Iran).

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• The Opening of Suez Canal in 1869 served as a direct route for the ships between India & Britain and reduced the cost and time of transportation and made access to the Indian market easier.
• Generation of a Large Export Surplus
• Drain of wealth during British rule:

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TRADE THROUGH SHIPS

Volume of Trade : During British rule, export was more than import which created Large Export Surplus.

This surplus came at a huge cost to the country’s economy as it led to the drain of India wealth.

Drain of India’s Wealth: Economic policies of the British in India were primarily motivated to snatch maximum benefits from India’s trade.

This surplus did not bring any flow of gold or silver into India, rather it was drained out.

The export surplus was used for:

^1.To make payments for the expenses incurred by an office set up by the colonial government in Britain.

^2. To meet expenses on war fought by the British government

^3. To import of invisible items

DEMOGRAPHIC CONDITION

It means to study of quality of population.

Birth Rate: Number of births among per 1000 person in a year.

Death Rate: Number of people dying per 1000 people in a year.

Infant Mortality Rate: Number of infants dying under the age of 1 year per 1000 births in a year.

Demographic Condition during British Period

• The demographic conditions during the British rule exhibited all the features of a stagnant & backward economy.
• First Official Census : 1881
• 1921, a Year of Great Divide: Before 1921 , India was in 1^st stage( high birth rate & high death rate & after 1921 , 2^nd stage( low death rate while high birth rate) of demographic transition started.

1921, a Year of Great Divide

Before 1921 , India was in 1^st stage( high birth rate & high death rate) & after 1921 2^nd stage( low death rate with high birth rate) of

demographic

transition started.

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• High Birth Rate & Death Rate: both were very high at nearly 48 and 40 per 1000 respectively.
• Extremely Low literacy: overall less than 16 %, whereas female literacy only 7%.
• Poor Health Facilities: mainly unavailable, also inadequate, widespread of water and air- borne diseases
• High Infant Mortality Rate:218 per 1000 in contrast to 32 in 2018

• Low Life Expectancy : 32 years , 68.7 in 2019
• Widespread Extensive Poverty & Low standard of living

Occupational structure means distribution of working persons across different sectors in the economy.

State of Occupational Structure during British Rule

• Predominance of Primary Occupation: 70- 75% in agriculture, manufacturing sector 10% and the services sector 15-20% respectively.

• Regional Variation: decline in the dependence of the work force on the Agricultural sector in parts of the then Madras Presidency, Maharashtra and West Bengal and with an increase in the manufacturing and the services sector.

However, there was an increase in the share of the work force in agriculture in the states such as Orissa, Rajasthan and Punjab

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INFRASTRUCTURE

Under the Colonial rule, infrastructure facilities were very poor. Some efforts were made to develop basic infrastructure such as Roads, Railways, Ports, Water Transport, Post and Telegraph etc. were developed, to subserve the colonial interests only.

• The roads were built for mobilizing the army within India

and for drawing out

raw materials

• The Indian Railways in 1850 : helped in to undertake long distance travel & broke geographical & cultural barriers & also to promote national integration. It helped commercialization of Indian agriculture
• The introduction of the expensive system of electric telegraph in India, similarly served the purpose of maintaining law and order.

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Positive Impacts of British Rule in India.

• 1. Better Means of transportation : Development of Roads and Railways: 
• 2. Monetary system of Exchange: shifting from barter system to monetary system
• 3. Effective Administrative set up
• 4. Introduction of Commercialisation of Agriculture:

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K V NO 2 SALTLAKE