From among the following statements regarding economic critique of colonialism, which ones are correct? (A) The British administrators attributed the rapid construction of railroads and the growth of India's foreign trade as a proof of India's prosperity (B) For nationalists, a negative impact on indigenous industries, foreign trade and railways represented India's underdevelopment of economy (C) The nationalists emphasized that while expenditure served British imperial needs, it also brought consequent prosperity to Indian people (D) Not until 1905, did the drain theory form part of the Indian National Congress agenda  Choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:

From among the following statements regarding economic critique of colonialism, which ones are correct? (A) The British administrators attributed the rapid construction of railroads and the growth of India's foreign trade as a proof of India's prosperity (B) For nationalists, a negative impact on indigenous industries, foreign trade and railways represented India's underdevelopment of economy (C) The nationalists emphasized that while expenditure served British imperial needs, it also brought consequent prosperity to Indian people (D) Not until 1905, did the drain theory form part of the Indian National Congress agenda  Choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below: Correct Answer <span style="">(A) and (B) only</span>

 Among the given statements regarding economic critique of colonialism, the correct statements are (A) and (B) only.

Important Points

  • The early nationalists led by Dadabhai Naroji, R.C. Dutt, Dinshaw Wacha and others, carefully analysed the political economy of British rule in India, and put forward the "drain theory" to explain British exploitation of India.
  • They opposed the transformation of of a basically self-sufficient Indian economy into a colonial economy.
  • However, the Britishers administrators attributed the rapid construction of railroads and the growth of India's foreign trade as a proof of India's prosperity.
  • But the economic critiques of colonialism exposed the Britishers' argument that the growth of foreign trade and railways implied development for India.
  • The nationalists pointed out that a negative impact on indigenous industries, foreign trade and railways represented India's underdevelopment of economy.
  • The nationalists also emphasized that while expenditure served British imperial needs, it also brought consequent poverty and unemployment to Indian people.
  • In 1896, in its annual session held at Calcutta, the Indian National Congress adopted the 'drain theory' by proclaiming that the famines in the country and poverty of the people had been brought on by the drain of wealth from the country.
  • The Moderates were able to create an an all India public opinion that British rule in India was the major cause of India's poverty and economic backwardness.

Based on the above discussion, we can conclude that the following statements regarding economic critique of colonialism are correct:

(A) The British administrators attributed the rapid construction of railroads and the growth of India's foreign trade as a proof of India's prosperity.

(B) For nationalists, a negative impact on indigenous industries, foreign trade and railways represented India's underdevelopment of economy.

Related Questions

The question given below consists of a statement, followed by three arguments numbered I, II and III. You have to decide which of the arguments is/are ‘strong' arguments and which is/are ‘weak' arguments and accordingly choose your answer from the alternatives given below each question. Statement: The United States has launched what China calls the ‘largest trade war in economic history' and in its latest move targeted another $200 billion in Chinese export goods. The US-China spat is one of several trade fights picked by the protectionist President Donald Trump as his ‘America First' agenda disrupts trade relations among traditional allies. The growing share of international trade under threat has raised the prospect the escalating trade war could harm the global economy, shrinking investments and undermining supply chains. Why? Arguments: I. Several companies - including Total and Peugeot of France, and Russia's Lukoil - have said they are preparing to exit Iran ahead of US deadlines, the last of which is November 4. II. Trump argued the original deal from 2012 was lopsided in Seoul's favour but has also clouded the issue by appearing to link trade concessions to progress in his separate track of talks with nuclear-armed North Korea. III. Meanwhile, talks among the three NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) signatories, launched after Trump demanded an overhaul of the ‘terrible deal', have snagged notably owing to the US demands to increase American content installed in duty-free autos. 
An author has stated that cultural colonialism causing annihilation of the national identity is much worse than erstwhile political colonialism: in most cases, the former has persisted even though direct political colonialism has ended. In the light of this statement, how can we check cultural colonialism in our country?
A passage is given with five questions following it. Read the passage carefully and select the best answer to each question out of the given fouralternatives. He wasn't the first, nor would he be the last, but the wiry, bespectacled man from Gujarat is certainly the most famous of the world's peaceful political dissidents.Mohandas Gandhi – also affectionately known as Mahatma – led India's independence movement in the 1930s and 40s by speaking softly without carrying much ofa big stick, facing down the British colonialists with stirring speeches and non-violent protest. More than anything else, historians say, Gandhi proved that one manhas the power to take on an empire, using both ethics and intelligence. Urges Britain to quit India It is hard to imagine the thin, robed Gandhi working in the rough and tumble world of law, but Gandhi did get his start in politics as a lawyer in South Africa, where he supported the local Indian community's struggle for civil rights. Returning to India in 1915, he carried over his desire to improve the situation of the lower classes. Gandhi quickly became a leader within the Indian National Congress, a growing political party supporting independence, and traveled widely with the party to learnabout the local struggles of various Indian communities. It was during those travels that his legend grew among the Indian people, historians say. Gandhi was known as much for his wit and intelligence as for his piety. When he was arrested several more times over the years for his actions during the movement,Gandhi calmly fasted in prison, believing that his death would embarrass the British enough to spur independence, which had become the focus of his politics by1920. Gandhi's non-cooperation movement, kicked off in the early 1920s, called for Indians to boycott British goods and traditions and become self-reliant. His mostfamous protest came in 1930, when Gandhi led thousands of Indians on a 250-mile march to a coastal town to produce salt, on which the British had a monopoly. What led to the growth of legend of Mahatma Gandhi among the Indians?
Read the passage carefully and select the best answer to each question out of the given four alternatives. The conclusion of World Trade Organizations 11thbiennial ministerial conference at Buenos Aires was worrisome. From an Indian standpoint, there was no loss asstatus quo continues in the most important issue: the right to continue the food security programme by using support prices. But the inability of the negotiators toreach even one substantive outcome suggests that WTOs efficacy is under question. As a 164-country multilateral organisation dedicated to crafting rules of tradethrough consensus, WTO represents the optimal bet for developing countries such as India. Strengthening WTO is in Indias best interest. Perhaps the biggest threat to WTOs efficacy today is the attitude of the US. The worlds largest economy appears to have lost faith in the organisation and hasbegun to undermine one of its most successful segments, the dispute redressal mechanism. This is significant as the US has been directly involved in nearly half ofall cases brought to WTO. Separately, large groups of countries decided to pursue negotiations on e-commerce, investment facilitation and removal of tradeobstacles for medium and small scale industries. By itself this should not weaken WTO. But it comes at a time when there is growing frustration with gridlock atWTO. India did well to defend its position on its food security programme. The envisaged reform package which will see a greater use of direct cash transfers tobeneficiaries will be in sync with what developed countries do. But its important for India to enhance its efforts to reinvigorate WTO. In this context, Indias plan toorganise a meeting of some countries early next year is a step in the right direction. WTO represents the best available platform to accommodate interests of adiverse set of nations. Therefore, India should be at the forefront of moves to fortify it. Which of the following is the most successful segments of the WTO mentioned in the passage?
A passage is given with five questions following it. Read the passage carefully and select the best answer to each question out of the given fouralternatives. He wasn't the first, nor would he be the last, but the wiry, bespectacled man from Gujarat is certainly the most famous of the world's peaceful political dissidents.Mohandas Gandhi – also affectionately known as Mahatma – led India's independence movement in the 1930s and 40s by speaking softly without carrying much ofa big stick, facing down the British colonialists with stirring speeches and non-violent protest. More than anything else, historians say, Gandhi proved that one manhas the power to take on an empire, using both ethics and intelligence. Urges Britain to quit India It is hard to imagine the thin, robed Gandhi working in the rough and tumble world of law, but Gandhi did get his start in politics as a lawyer in South Africa, where he supported the local Indian community's struggle for civil rights. Returning to India in 1915, he carried over his desire to improve the situation of the lower classes. Gandhi quickly became a leader within the Indian National Congress, a growing political party supporting independence, and traveled widely with the party to learnabout the local struggles of various Indian communities. It was during those travels that his legend grew among the Indian people, historians say. Gandhi was known as much for his wit and intelligence as for his piety. When he was arrested several more times over the years for his actions during the movement,Gandhi calmly fasted in prison, believing that his death would embarrass the British enough to spur independence, which had become the focus of his politics by1920. Gandhi's non-cooperation movement, kicked off in the early 1920s, called for Indians to boycott British goods and traditions and become self-reliant. His mostfamous protest came in 1930, when Gandhi led thousands of Indians on a 250-mile march to a coastal town to produce salt, on which the British had a monopoly. According to the passage, British had a monopoly of producing which of the product?
Read the passage carefully and select the best answer to each question out of the given four alternatives. The conclusion of World Trade Organizations 11thbiennial ministerial conference at Buenos Aires was worrisome. From an Indian standpoint, there was no loss asstatus quo continues in the most important issue: the right to continue the food security programme by using support prices. But the inability of the negotiators toreach even one substantive outcome suggests that WTOs efficacy is under question. As a 164-country multilateral organisation dedicated to crafting rules of tradethrough consensus, WTO represents the optimal bet for developing countries such as India. Strengthening WTO is in Indias best interest. Perhaps the biggest threat to WTOs efficacy today is the attitude of the US. The worlds largest economy appears to have lost faith in the organisation and hasbegun to undermine one of its most successful segments, the dispute redressal mechanism. This is significant as the US has been directly involved in nearly half ofall cases brought to WTO. Separately, large groups of countries decided to pursue negotiations on e-commerce, investment facilitation and removal of tradeobstacles for medium and small scale industries. By itself this should not weaken WTO. But it comes at a time when there is growing frustration with gridlock atWTO. India did well to defend its position on its food security programme. The envisaged reform package which will see a greater use of direct cash transfers tobeneficiaries will be in sync with what developed countries do. But its important for India to enhance its efforts to reinvigorate WTO. In this context, Indias plan toorganise a meeting of some countries early next year is a step in the right direction. WTO represents the best available platform to accommodate interests of adiverse set of nations. Therefore, India should be at the forefront of moves to fortify it. According to the passage, which of the following statement is NOT true?