mention any two features of British economic policies.
Answers
Answer:
The following points highlight the top three British economic policies in India. The policies are: 1. Commercial Policy 2. Land Revenue Policy 3. The Drain of Wealth Policy.
1. Commercial Policy:
From 1600 to 1757 the East India Company’s role in India was that of a trading corporation which brought goods or precious metals into India and exchanged them for Indian goods like textiles and spices, which it sold abroad. Its profits came primarily from the sale of Indian goods abroad.
Naturally, it tried constantly to open new markets for Indian goods in Britain and other countries. Thereby, it increased the export of Indian manufacturers and thus encouraged their production.
This is the reason why Indian rulers tolerated and even encouraged the establishment of the Company’s factories in India. But, from the very beginning, the British manufacturers were jealous of the popularity that Indian textiles enjoyed in Britain.
All of a sudden, dress fashions changed and light cotton textiles began to replace the coarse woolens of the English. Before, the author of the famous novel, Robinson Crusoe, complained that Indian cloth had “crept into our houses, our closets and bed chambers; curtains, cushions, chairs, and at last beds themselves were nothing but calicos or India stuffs”.
2. Land Revenue Policy:
The Company needed Indian revenues to pay for its purchase of Indian handicrafts and other goods for export, meet the cost of the conquest of the whole of India and the consolidation of British rule, pay for the employment of thousands of Englishmen in superior administrative and military positions at salaries that were fabulous by contemporary standards, and to meet the costs of economic and administrative charges needed to enable colonialism to fully penetrate Indian villages and the far-flung areas.
This meant a steep rise in the burden of taxation on the India peasant. In fact, nearly all the major changes in the administration and judicial system till 1813 were geared to the collection of land revenues. The main burden of providing money for the trade and profits of the Company, the cost of administration, and the wars of British expansion in India had to be borne by the Indian peasant or ryot.
3. The Drain of Wealth Policy:
The British exported to Britain part of India’s wealth and resources for which India got no adequate economic or material return. This ‘economic drain’ was peculiar to British rule. Even the worst of previous Indian governments had spent the revenue they extracted from the people inside the country.
Whether they spent it on irrigation canals and trunk roads, or on palaces, temples and mosques, or on wars and conquests, or even on personal luxury, it ultimately encouraged Indian trade and industry or gave employment to Indians. This was so because even foreign conquerors, like the Mughals, soon settled in India and made it their home. But the British remained perpetual foreigners.
Englishmen, working and trading in India, nearly always planned to go back to Britain, and the Indian government was controlled by a foreign company of merchants and the government of Britain. The British, consequently, spent a large part of the taxes and income they derived from the Indian people not in India but in Britain, their home country.
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Explanation:
Answer:
. Low level of per capita income
Per capita income is calculated by dividing national income by population. Income of an individual is a major indicator of his or her standard of living. Per capita income gives the idea of income earned on an average by an individual in the economy in a year. India’s per capita income for the year 2009-10 was Rs. 33731. This comes out to be around Rs 2811 per month. (i.e. 33731/12 = 2811). This amount is very low to lead a decent life. A person needs a room to live, cloths and dress materials to wear and food to eat
Slow growth of per capita income
India’s per capita income is not only low but also growing very slowly. Growth refers to increase over time. Why we want our income to increase every year? There are a few reasons for it . First, our wants are increasing, as we grow over time. In order to satisfy the extra wants, we need more income. Take for example your own case. Don’t you want to watch a movie in a cinema hall; don’t you want to wear nice dresses; don’t you want to eat in a hotel; don’t you want to watch IPL cricket match in a stadium; don’t you want to study in a college; don’t you want a mobile phone for yourself etc. The list could go endless. But these things are not available free of cost. So you need more income than before to satisfy these wants. Second, another reason for earning more income is that the prices of goods you buy in the market are also increasing. So you may have to pay more money for the same goods and services you consume. Recently the prices of petrol and diesel were increased. In Delhi the price was increased by around Rs 5 per litre. Suppose a person runs a truck from Delhi to Shimla carrying shoes. He sells shoes in Shimla market at the rate of Rs.300 per pair. His expenditure on diesel before the rise in price was around is Rs.3100 per trip.But because of price rise his expenditure on diesel increased to ,say, Rs.3700. How he will manage this extra Rs.600? One way is to increase the price of a pair of shoes from Rs.300 to say Rs.325. If you are staying at Shimla and buying
shoes then you have to pay Rs.25 more for a pair than before. Where from you get
this extra money of Rs.25? Your income must increase to adjust this increase in
expenditure. Since you spend on other goods as well and prices of others goods are
also increasing in a similar fashion, your income must increase even faster.
But ironically, the per capita income in India has not increased in the desired manner.
We just told that India’s per capita income was Rs.33,731 in the year 2009-2010.
Do you know what was the amount in the preceding year. 2008-9?It was Rs.31,801.
This means, income of an individual was increased by only Rs.1930. What is the
increase per month? It was around Rs.160 per month. Is this amount sufficient for you
to meet the extra expenditure on various goods due to rise in prices? Remember that
you have to pay extra Rs.25 for shoes only. These are so many other things you need
for which you have to pay more. So increase of Rs.160 is not just enough to satisfy
your existing wants, what to talk of satisfying increase in wants? We reproduce the
data on per capita income in the table below given economic surve
Explanation: