Underscore some of India's most crucial economic challenges at the time of independence.

Question

Accepted Answer

The Indian economy was a backward economy at the time of independence, and it faced several crucial economic challenges:

1. **Low level of agricultural productivity**: Over 70 percent of the total population of India was engaged in agriculture, but the total output was very low. The productivity levels were as low as about 660 kg per hectare for wheat and 665 kg per hectare for rice. The sector depended on erratic rainfall, used primitive techniques and suffered from the exploitative land settlement systems.

2. **Backward industrial sector**: There were not many industries at the time of independence, and the capital that existed was mostly invested by foreigners. The need to increase the share of the industrial sector in India's GDP was one of the important economic challenges. There were hardly any capital goods industries, and the country lacked basic and strategic industries needed to develop the infrastructure and the secondary sector.

3. **Lack of infrastructure**: The famed railway network needed upgradation, expansion and public orientation. There was a complete absence of infrastructure for imparting knowledge or technical skills to the labourers. Roads were not fit for modern transport, and there was an acute shortage of all-weather roads to reach rural areas.

4. **Poverty and inequalities**: India was trapped in the vicious circle of poverty and inequality. The colonial rule drained out a significant portion of India's wealth to Britain. Consequently, the majority of India's population was poverty-stricken, and there were large economic inequalities across the country.

Thus, the newly independent nation had to overcome a legacy of a stagnant agricultural sector, negligible industrialisation, poor infrastructure and mass poverty in order to initiate the process of economic development.