Pallabi Chakraborty
404519609
Economic Liberalization in India
On the 15th of August, 1947, India awoke to freedom and democracy, when the British passed on the controls of ‘the brightest jewel in the crown’ (as India was lovingly called) to the Indian people. The Indian subcontinent has been invaded since time immemorial for the riches the land held. It is often said that trading with India and conquering it was a great deal to the Europeans. For the British to reign the country for so long, which became dominant primarily after several wars and diplomatic issues in Indian as well as Europe, was a source of pride. It established them as superior to the Dutch, French and Portuguese. However, if India indeed is a country of such abundance, and has been a free country for so long, why is it still counted amongst low income countries? In this paper, I make an attempt to evaluate how India’s economic policies and growth have changed since independence.
At the time of independence, the value of rupee was at par with the US dollar and India had a clean balance sheet with no borrowings. The Indian government decided to pan out development through Five Year plans, much alike the ones implemented by the former soviet government. These plans were meant to finance welfare and development activities with the help of external funds which would mean that the rupee would have to be devaluated (Economic Times, August 24th, 2013). Source: World Bank and www.knoema.com (Rupees devaluation
Britain had a desire to have a more economic, political, and social influence over India. Even though the British never preserved a notable military existence in India, they were able to maintain political control. Many changes were made, which benefitted India, but there were also some changes, which contributed to its deterioration. Despite the negative impacts Britain left on India, imperialism is best understood as a strong country extending its authority, in order to increase its wealth, by bringing more of the world under its control, because Britain helped in the development of India from a nation-state, to a unified country, which is modernly the world’s largest democracy.
The purpose of this historical inquiry is to analyze to what extent did British Imperialism have an effect on shaping modern India? The main source that will be discussed in this paper is the seventh book of the Spotlight on History Series called The British Raj, which explains the reasons behind the conflicts between the British Empire and Indian nationalism and assess the achievements of a memorable relationship.
India was in a great shape up until the end of 19th century. When British arrived, the country was depleted of its wealth and
The Causes of Indian Independence in 1947 In 1947 India was declared an independent country from Britain, after years of peaceful and violent protests, pressure from all sides, and numerous promises. Not only this, but Pakistan was also formed by partitioning the country into two, providing a separate homeland for the Muslims of India. Although independence was greeting with relief from all, partition came with riots, millions of murders and a hatred between countries that has not healed up even by today. The word "inevitable" in the essay title implies something which was almost 'destined' to happen from the beginning, and the course of action could not be averted under any circumstances.
As the British took control of India, it found ways to make India better and with its help, soon enough, India was placed as the second best economy under the British economy (British 12). India’s economy and trade had improved tremendously after the British took over because there was more money coming into India to cause such a rise in its economy. The British also built railroads which created more ease when transporting goods and trading throughout India. The railroads allowed supplies and goods to be exported quickly, bringing it to the ports. Goods that would usually take months to be traded with others now only took a few days with the installment of railroads (Fisher 348). The railroads in India impacted everyone not just the merchants and businessmen in India. But, it was especially beneficial for them because now they could make deals and have goods be transported to them without a long wait. Nevertheless it seem to be that with these new installments India could run smoothly but eventually a problem came along the way. The British did not allow Indians to make their own goods, they banned homemade crafts and since most of India was out of work, the Indians turned to the fields. Work was hard and there were certain goods they needed like clothes so they had to buy it from the British since they could no longer make it themselves from the cotton they collected. Craftsmen became farmers to pay for goods and live a stable life (Bose 53). The British had wanted to get rid of the competition for goods so they decided they want to prevent the Indians from making their own goods. That way if the Indians needed something they can only get it from the British (Bose 53). This led to economic downfall for the Indians because while they were not doing great before the British came, their economy was pretty
This paper will talk about the impact of British colonial conquest on India’s economy while lightly touch on the pre-colonial economic conditions as well. Colonialism refers to a process of control and domination where one country dominates the other. It is the control on the social, economic, and political policies of the colony countries (Emerson, 1969). Many European countries starting colonising other nations in order to gain raw materials, wealth, power and to spread their mission of civilization. The British controlled parts of India first through company rule 1757-1858 and later through the British raj from 1858-1947.
Further evidence shows that more British involvement over the course of two centuries made nearly all aspects of Indian society weaker overall. Areas that experienced direct British rule have significantly lower levels of access to education, roads, and healthcare in the postcolonial period, thereby demonstrating that the quality of governance during Britain’s imperial rule in India had a significant effect on the country after becoming an independent nation in 1947 (Fisher).
As Trivedi begins to discuss the importance of global trade in the first chapter, the reader is given a basic background of India’s economic development first through the Dutch East India company and then later Britain’s rule of the country. What she provides is the historical narrative common to colonial rule and domination of a country and its resources. Like other countries who experienced English rule under the crown, India remained in the clutches of Britain’s control until a full Indian parliament was strong enough to take the lead of India. Millions of Indians refused to remain under the rule of British systems which controlled nationwide extraction of raw materials. Hand spun fabrics and clothing produced by local cottage shops which supplied the British markets with their goods, were cut off.
Since the liberalization, privatization and globalization (L.P.G) in the early 1990’s the Indian economy has had a deep impact on its financial services sector, it is during this L.P.G era the reform’s in financial sector were initiated by the government of India to meet the challenges of complex financial architecture. This reform ensured that the new Indian financial system will forge out into a transparent, strong and resilient system. At present the Indian economy grew by 7.3 percent, a full year growth for the fiscal year ending in march based on the statistical method based of gross value added (GVA) keeping base year as 2011-2012 as against 2005.
Liberal and democratic aspects of British colonialism in India played a significant role in leading to a democratic South Asia following Indian independence in 1947. Yet, the British -- first through the East India Company and then through direct government control -- held almost all of the political and economic power in India during the Empire’s expansion and apogee, guaranteeing the Indian economy could not evolve and/or function independent of the ruling power’s control; ensuring raw materials extracted from Indian soil would go towards British manufacturing industries mostly without profiting the vast majority of Indians; and leading to lives of privation for millions of indigenous subjects. Although there have been arguments made that, in political and
From the 1700s to 1947, Britain recognized India as the “jewel in the crown” because India was the most valuable colony they controlled. Indian’s life quality had a big improvement under the British’s rule. Britain had built a railroad line for India making long distance trading more possible and faster. The railroad line also brought people in different regions closer and made exchanging ideas easier. Other important public facilities and technologies had helped India to emerge a modern economy. India was also able to connect and learn something from the outside world. In conclusion, Britain’s construction of railroad line, bridges, telegraphic lines and canals was its most noteworthy impact on India’s economy that had pushed the modernization
India was so wealthy during this period that in 1600, government revenues reached 100 million rupees, which was equivalent to 17.6 million pounds sterling; an amount that would not be matched by the British imperial treasury until the mid 19th century. By 1700, the imperial budget had doubled in size, to 200 million silver rupees, and so the Mughals could finance almost constant warfare.
one. Let us take the example of a child. As a child grows her weight and height
The credit for the development in India 's economy in terms of size and dimensions to global workforce is both the formal and informal sector. Recent attempts to bring some policy for the welfare of the informal sector by the government cannot be overlooked. This sector includes all private enterprises owned by individuals or partnership basis with less than ten workers. With social scientists studying informal sector, there is a disagreement on the potentiality of this sector in contributing growth of the economy; nearly 92 percent of labour is in informal sector and 8 percent in formal sector. The Government of India formed the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector whose purpose was to enhance the quality of work and livelihood welfare if the workers in the informal sector such as farmers, farm labourers and workers. It 's main objective was to bring about improvement in the productivity of the enterprises in this section, bring in labour laws, labour rights, social security for this mass of workers. But implementing these welfare measures is challenging as this will need strong commitment from the State Governments and welfare agency boards. Although the corporate sectors can be asked to contribute to this national funds; this will surely bring socio-economic welfare for the informal sector. The State when starting the policy for development for this sector must ensure that work and livelihood of the working workers is not displaced and there is
This essay examines the trajectory of India’s fiscal policy with a focus on historical trends, fiscal discipline frameworks, and fiscal responses to the global financial crisis and subsequent return to a fiscal consolidation path. The initial years of India’s planned development strategy were characterized by a conservative fiscal policy whereby deficits were kept under control. The tax system was geared to transfer resources from the private sector to fund the large public sector driven industrialization process and also cover social welfare schemes.