A student lists three economists who estimated India’s national income during the colonial period, and then notes what most studies found about growth in the first half of the twentieth century. Which of the following is correct on both counts?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Dadabhai Naoroji, Findlay Shirras and R.C. Desai; aggregate real output grew by less than two per cent a year
Two facts decide this. The notable estimators were Dadabhai Naoroji, William Digby, Findlay Shirras, V.K.R.V. Rao and R.C. Desai. Most studies found that aggregate real output grew by less than two per cent a year, and per capita output by only about half per cent.
Option (1) Dadabhai Naoroji, William Digby and R.C. Dutt; aggregate real output grew by less than two per cent a year — Incorrect. The growth figure is right, but the estimator named is R.C. Desai, not R.C. Dutt.
Option (2) Dadabhai Naoroji, Findlay Shirras and R.C. Desai; per capita output grew by about one per cent a year — Incorrect. The names are right, but per capita output grew by only half per cent a year.
Option (3) Dadabhai Naoroji, Findlay Shirras and R.C. Desai; aggregate real output grew by less than two per cent a year — Correct. Both the names and the growth figure match.
Option (4) Dadabhai Naoroji, Findlay Shirras and R.C. Desai; aggregate real output grew by about half per cent a year — Incorrect. Half per cent is the growth of per capita output, not of aggregate output.
NCERT (2026-27): “1.2 Low Level of Economic Development Under the Colonial Rule The economic policies pursued by the colonial government in India were concerned more with the protection and promotion of the economic interests of their home country than with the development of the Indian economy. Such policies brought about a fundamental change in the structure of the Indian economy — transforming the country into supplier of raw materials and consumer of finished industrial products from Britain. Obviously, the colonial government never made any sincere attempt to estimate India’s national and per capita income. Some individual attempts which were made to measure such incomes yielded conflicting and inconsistent results. Among the notable estimators — Dadabhai Naoroji, William Digby, Findlay Shirras, V.K.R.V. Rao and R.C. Desai — it was Rao, whose estimates during the colonial period was considered very significant. However, most studies did find that the country’s growth of aggregate real output during the first half of the twentieth century was less than two per cent coupled with a meagre half per cent growth in per capita output per year.” |