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Question

Extreme poverty in India dropped to 10.2% in the pre-Covid year of 2019 from as much as 22.5% in 2011 and the pace of reduction in rural India has been more dramatic than in urban areas, according to a World Bank working paper. The poverty level in rural and urban areas declined by 14.7 and 7.9 percentage points, respectively, during the 2011-2019 period. While it eased to 11.6% in rural areas in 2019, the urban poverty level stood at 6.3%. Extreme poverty has been measured in terms of the number of people living on less than $1.90 a day (roughly Rs 145). Interestingly, urban poverty inched up by 2 percentage points in the demonetisation year of 2016 and rural poverty rose by 10 basis points in 2019 (coinciding with an economic slowdown before the Covid spread its tentacles), the paper showed. The World Bank working paper, titled Poverty in India Has Declined over the Last Decade But Not As Much As Previously Thought, has been authored by economists Sutirtha Sinha Roy and Roy van der Weide. This is the second working paper released this month, under the aegis of multilateral agencies, that gauged poverty reduction in India. An IMF working paper authored by economists Surjit Bhalla, Karan Bhasin and Arvind Virmani recently suggested that extreme poverty in India was as low as 0.8% in 2019 and the country managed to keep it at that level in 2020 despite the pandemic, by resorting to food transfers through the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana.

Which of the following is/are the characteristics of British rule in India with respect to the Poverty, Industry and Agriculture?

(1) substantial de-industrialisation

(2) sharply raising rural taxes

(3) Heavy exports of food grains

(4) Not sufficient agricultural production

Which of the above statement(s) is/are CORRECT?

A 1, 2, and 3 Correct Answer Incorrect Answer
B 1, 3, and 4 Correct Answer Incorrect Answer
C 2, 3, and 4 Correct Answer Incorrect Answer
D 1, 2, 3, and 4 Correct Answer Incorrect Answer
E None of these Correct Answer Incorrect Answer

Solution

As over 70 per cent of Indians were engaged in agriculture throughout the British Raj period, the impact on that sector was more important on living standards than anything else. British policies involved sharply raising rural taxes that enabled merchants and moneylenders to become large landowners. Under the British, India began to export food grains and, as a result, as many as 26 million people died in famines between 1875 and 1900. Britain’s main goals from the Raj were to provide a market for British exports, to have India service its debt payments to Britain, and for India to provide manpower for the British imperial armies. The British Raj impoverished millions of people in India. Our natural resources were plundered, our industries worked to produce goods at low prices for the British and our food grains were exported. Many died due to famine and hunger. In 1857-58, anger at the overthrow of many local leaders, extremely high taxes imposed on peasants, and other resentments boiled over in a revolt against British rule by the sepoys, Indian troops commanded by the British.

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