Consider the following statements about infrastructure under colonial rule:
(A) Roads were built mainly to mobilise the army within India and to carry raw materials to the nearest railway station or port.
(B) The railways strengthened the self-sufficiency of the village economies of India.
(C) The Coast Canal on the Orissa coast was abandoned as it failed to compete with the railways.
(D) The expensive electric telegraph was introduced mainly to give quick communication to traders and farmers.
(E) The postal services served a useful public purpose but remained inadequate all through.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → (A), (C) and (E) only
(A) Roads were built mainly to mobilise the army within India and to carry raw materials to the nearest railway station or port. — Correct. These were the two main purposes of the roads.
(B) The railways strengthened the self-sufficiency of the village economies of India. — Incorrect. The railways fostered commercialisation of agriculture, which hurt the self-sufficiency of village economies.
(C) The Coast Canal on the Orissa coast was abandoned as it failed to compete with the railways. — Correct. The railways ran parallel to the canal, and it had to be abandoned.
(D) The expensive electric telegraph was introduced mainly to give quick communication to traders and farmers. — Incorrect. The telegraph served the purpose of maintaining law and order.
(E) The postal services served a useful public purpose but remained inadequate all through. — Correct. They were useful, yet inadequate.
NCERT (2026-27): “1.8 Infrastructure … Roads constructed in India prior to the advent of the British rule were not fit for modern transport. The roads that were built primarily served the purposes of mobilising the army within India and drawing out raw materials from the countryside to the nearest railway station or the port to send these to far away England or other lucrative foreign destinations. …” “… The railways affected the structure of the Indian economy in two important ways. On the one hand it enabled people to undertake long distance travel and thereby break geographical and cultural barriers while, on the other hand, it fostered commercialisation of Indian agriculture which adversely affected the self-sufficiency of the village economies in India. …” “… The inland waterways, at times, also proved uneconomical as in the case of the Coast Canal on the Orissa coast. Though the canal was built at a huge cost to the government exchequer, yet, it failed to compete with the railways, which soon traversed the region running parallel to the canal, and had to be ultimately abandoned. The introduction of the expensive system of electric telegraph in India, similarly, served the purpose of maintaining law and order. The postal services, on the other hand, despite serving a useful public purpose, remained all through inadequate.” |