INDIA NEWS: Britain has ruled India for almost 200 years. This was the period when there was severe poverty and famine in India. During this period the British looted Indian property extensively. In this episode, famous economist Utsa Patnaik has answered the question which every Indian wants to know.
Patnaik has recently said in an article published in Columbia University Press that the rulers of Britain have taken more than 45 trillion dollars from India, due to which till date the country has not been able to completely come out of poverty.
Utsa Patnaik replied
Famous economist Utsa Patnaik said that despite Britain leaving India 70 years ago, the traces of colonialism still remain. Patnaik said, “An amount of 9.2 trillion pounds ($45 trillion) was calculated by measuring the export surplus earnings of India between 1765 and 1938, which was added as compound interest at 5 percent interest rate.” He further said, “Indians were never given due credit for their valuable resources such as gold and foreign exchange earnings, which were spent on feeding the people of the British country.”
‘Per capita income remained almost stable from 1900 to 1945-46’
According to Utsa’s research, the country’s per capita income remained almost stable during the period 1900 to 1945-46. India’s per capita income in 1900-02 was Rs 196.1, while it was only Rs 201.9 in 1945-46, a year before India gained its independence. During this period, per capita income rose to a maximum of Rs 223.8 in 1930–32. All this happened while India recorded the second largest export surplus earnings in the world for three decades before 1929.
He further said, “Every year the British used to grab resources equal to 26-36 percent of the budget of the central government. This caused a lot of problems for India to become a developed nation. The economist believes that if these international earnings stay in India itself Had it remained, the country would have been much ahead in terms of proper healthcare and social welfare indicators.
