What was common sense regarding the idea of becoming “modern” in the first decade after Independence?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Becoming more like the industrialized countries of the West.
Option (1) Exploring indigenous alternatives to modernization while promoting sustainable growth. — Incorrect. This was not the common view then; the ‘West’ was the standard for measuring development.
Option (2) Sensitivity toward human development and promoting capacity-building programs. — Incorrect. In that decade, being modern meant catching up with the industrialised West.
Option (3) Following the trajectories of the tribal societies. — Incorrect. The model was the West, not tribal societies.
Option (4) Becoming more like the industrialized countries of the West. — Correct. ‘Development’ was about becoming more ‘modern’, and modern was about becoming more like the industrialised countries of the West.
NCERT (2025-26): “Ideas of development … The first decade after independence witnessed a lot of debate around this question. It was common then, as it is even now, for people to refer to the ‘West’ as the standard for measuring development. ‘Development’ was about becoming more ‘modern’ and modern was about becoming more like the industrialised countries of the West. This is how common people as well as the experts thought.” |