CBSE Class 11 Economics Indian Economy At Eve of Independence Worksheet

Question. The main interest of the Zamindar was
(a) To collect rent
(b) To improve the condition of agriculture
(c) To produce food crops
(d) To produce cash crops.
Answer : A

Question. Whose estimate of national income was considered very significant?
(a) Dadabhai Naoroji
(b) William Digby
(c). RC Desai
(d) VKRV Rao.
Answer : D

Question. Initially, the industrial development was confined to the setting up of
(a) Cotton textile mills
(b) Jute textile mills
(c) Cotton and jute textile mills
(d) Capital goods industry.
Answer : C

Question. Details about the population of British India were first collected in
(a) 1871
(B) 1881
(C)1891
(D) 1901.
Answer : B

Question. Major contribution to the GDP of the country on the eve of independence was from
(a) Tertiary sector
(b) Primary Sector
(c) Secondary sector
(d) both Primary and secondary sector.
Answer : B

Very Short Answer type Questions

Question. Give the meaning of Gross Domestic product(GDP).
Answer : GDP is the market value of all officially recognized final goods and services produced within a country during a given period of time.

Question. What are capital goods industries?
Answer : Capital goods industry refer to those industries which can produce machine tools which are, in turn, used for producing articles for current consumption.

Question. Mention the most important infrastructure developed during British period.
Answer : It was the “Railways”, which were introduced by them.

Question. When did British introduce Railways in India?
Answer : Railways were introduced in India by the British in 1850.

Question. Give the meaning of life expectancy at birth.
Answer : Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a new born infant is expected to live.

Question. Which airlines inaugurated the aviation sector in India?
Answer : It was Tata Airlines, Which inaugurated the aviation sector in India.

Short Answer type Questions

Question. What was the state of infrastructure at the time of independence.
Answer : 1. Roads
2.Railways 3.Water transport
4. Banking and Financial services
5.Communication
6.Education and Health.

Question. Explain any three positive contributions made by the British in India.
Answer : Some of the positive contributions made by the British in India were:
(1) Introduction of railways enabled the people to undertake long-distance travel. This facilitated
The breaking of the geographical and cultural barriers.
(2) British rulers also developed water transport and introduced the air transport in 1932 by way of India.
(3) In 1837, the British introduced the modern postal system. The Expensive electric telegraph
System was introduced in India, Which was useful for the purpose of maintaining law and order.
Thus, the postal services served a useful public purpose.

Question. Explain the challenges for the Indian economy on the eve of Independence.
Answer : 1. Vicious cycle of poverty
2. Backward technology
3. Negligible industrial growth
4. conditions of living
5. Partition of India.
6. Unemployment and underemployment
7. Rural economy
8. Limited size of market
9. High growth rate of population

Question. What is vicious circle of poverty?
Answer : Vicious circle of poverty is the occurrence of low incomes leading to low savings,
Which results in low productivity and further lower levels of income. This further perpetuates poverty in the economy.

Question. What is occupational structure ? Briefly explain about it during British period ?
Answer : Occupational structure is the distribution of labour force in three main sectors of the economy –agriculture, industry and service.
1.Primary sector 2. Secondary sector 3. Territory sector

Question. How can India be described as a depleted economy on the eve of independence?
Answer : India was left with a large debt, mostly owed to the British Empire. This debt had increased over time because of the large expenditure that the British incurred in ruling over India. They maintained the army and the administrative staff to rule over India. India had also paid high taxes for import of raw material and other goods used in the making of roads, railways and coaches. All this drained the Indian treasury.

Question. How did the construction of railways affect the structure of the Indian economy?
Answer : The British introduced the railways in India in 1850. Though the motive behind the setting up of railways by British in India was selfish, it is considered as one of their most important contribution. It affected the structure of the Indian railways in many ways:
(1) It enabled people to undertake long distance travel and thereby break geographical and cultural barriers.
(2) It fostered commercialization of Indian agriculture which adversely affected the self-sufficiency of the village economies in India.
(3) The volume of India’s export trade undoubtedly expanded.
2. Explain the objectives of British government for promoting the railways in India.
(1) The railways were developed in India by the British to promote commercialization of Indian agriculture. This adversely affected the selfsufficiency of the village economy in India.
(2) Railways were introduced to protect and promote the British economic interests of transforming India into supplier of raw materials and consumer of finished industrial products from Britain.

Question. State the features of Indian Economy at the time of Independence.
Answer : 1.Stagnant Economy
2. Lopsoded economy
3. Depleted economy
4. Backward economy
5.Dependent economy
6. Colonial economy
7. Semi feudal economy

Question. Explain four main causes of India’s agricultural stagnation during colonial period.
Answer : 1. Land revenue system
2. Low level of productivity
3. Commercialisation of agriculture
4. Starvation in the field of agriculture sector.
5. Lack of technology and resources.

Question. Was there any economic drain during the colonial period? Explain.
Answer : 1. Large export surplus
2. Introduction of railways
3. Competition from machine-made goods
4. Commercialisation of agriculture

Question. What was the state of primary sector in the time of Independence.
Answer : 1. Forced Commercialization of agriculture
2. Land Revenue system under the British Raj
3. High Degree of Vulnerability
4. A wedge between owners of the soil and Tiller soft h soil
5. Low Level of Productivity

Question. Briefly explain about industrial sector at the time of independence.
Answer : 1. Very few Modern Industries
2. Dominance of Trading and money lending class.
3. Agriculture-based industries
4. Lack of capital goods industries

Question. What was the state of foreign trade at the time of independence.
Answer : 1. Composition
2. Terms of trade
3. Direction
4. Volume of trade.

Question. What was the effect of the systematic de-industrialization policy followed by the British?
Answer : The effects of the policy of de-industrialization followed by the British were:
(a) De-industrialization
(b) ecline of the traditional handicraft
(c)The fall in supply of locally made goods.

Question. Briefly explain about Demographic Conditions on the eve of independence.
Answer : 1.Water and airborne diseases
2. Birth rate
3. Poverty
4. Illiteracy
5.Mortality rate
6.Life expectancy
7.Bengal famine

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