CHAPTER-1-INDIAN ECONOMY ON THE EVE OF INDEPENDENCE

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

1 Per capita income refers to

(a) Income per head of total population in the country
(b) Income per head of total labour force in the country
(c) Income per head of total workforce force in the country
(d) None of these
2 Export surplus refers to
(a) Value of export > value of import
(b) Value of export < value of import
(c) Value of export = value of import
(d) None of these
3 Wealth drain is associated with
(a) R C Desai
(b) Dadabhai Naoroji
(c) V V K R V Rao
(d) WilliamDigdy
4 Estimation of National Income by --------------------- is considered most significant.

(a)R C Desai (b)Dadabhai Naoroji ( c)V V K R V Rao (d)WilliamDigdy

5 First official census in India was conducted in :

(a) 1871 (b) 1881 ( c) 1891 (d) 1981

6 Demography is related to
(a) Study of infants
(b) Study of adults
(c) Study of women
(d) Study of population

7 Which of the following is not an economic infrastructure ?

(a) Energy
(b) Transportation
(c) Housing
(d) Communication

8 What is the second stage of demographic transition in India ?

(a) High birth rate and high death rate
(b) Low birth rate and low death rate
(c) High birth rate and low death rate
(d) Low birth rate and high death rate

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9 Why is the year 1921 called the year of great divide ?
(a) Population started increasing at an alarming rate
(b) Population started increasing at an increasing rate
(c) Population started increasing
(d) None of these

10 Which of the followings is/are positive contribution of Britishers I India ?

(a) Railway (b) Monetary exchange ( c) Administrative system (d) All of these

11 Commercial farming refers to :

(a) Farming for self consumption
(b) Farming for exports
(c) Farming for selling purpose
(d) None of these

12 Social infrastructure includes :

(a) Health
(b) Housing
( c) Education
(d) All of these

13 The infant mortality rate is the number of infant deaths for every ------------- live births.
(a) 100 (b) 1000 ( c) 10,000 (d) 1,00,000

14 The objective of the Britishers to turn India a

(a) Dependent economy (b) Independent economy (c) feeder economy (d) none of
these

15 Which sector dominated Indian economy during British rule in India ?

(a) Primary sector (b) Secondary Sector ( c) Tertiary sector (d) organized sector

16 Which industry suffered a major setback during the British rule?

A)Cement
B)Iron and Steel
C)Handicraft
D)Paper
17 TheTata Iron and Steel Company was established in:-
A)1857
B)1907
C)1921
D)1951

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18 Which of the following was not the feature of Indian agriculture on the eve of Independence?
A)High degree of uncertainty
B) Land holdings were fragmented
C)Farming was considered to be as an activity of self consumption
D)None of the above
19 What was the objective behind the growth and development of means of transport during the
British period?
A)Toindustrialise the country
B)To serve the interests of Indian company
C)To transport finished goods from England to the interiors of colonial India
D)Development of infrastructure in India
20 Occupational structure refers to:
A)Distribution of working force among the different occupations
B)Nature of different occupations
C)Size of working force in a country
D)Number of people living in a country
21 Which industry was adversely affected due to partition?
A)Silk
B)Cotton
C)Jute
D)Nylon
22 During the British rule, the condition of India’s foreign trade was:-
A)Exporter of raw material
B)Surplus on account of foreign trade was spent on war expenses
C)Importer of finished goods produced in the British industries
D)All of the above
23 Which is the following the most important infrastructure developed during the British rule?
A)Airways
B)Railways
C)Waterways
D)None of these

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24 Which of the following was not the feature of Indian Demographic profile on the eve of
independence?
A)Death rate was low
B)Birth rate was high
C)Low life expectancy
D)High infant mortality rate
25 Which of the following does not describe the Zamindari system in India?
A)Zamindars were the owners of the land and farmers were the tillers of the soil
B)Zamindars used to pay any amount of tax to the state
C)Zamindars used to charge high amount of rent from the farmers
D)Amount of the rent was not fixed.
26 Which of the following marks the negative impact of British rule in India?
A)Developed commercial outlook of the farmers
B)Change on composition of India’s foreign trade
C)Introduction of administrative and monetary system of India
D)Commercialisation of agriculture
27 India’s jute industry suffered heavily due to………………after partition.
A)Lack of raw material
B)Famines
C)Earthquakes
D)None of these
28 What was the principal source of occupation during the British rule?
A)Agriculture
B)Mining
C)Manufacturing
D)Trade and commerce
29 More than half of India’s foreign trade was restricted to:
A)China
B)Britain
C)Korea
D)Sri Lanka

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30 Farming which focuses on basic needs of the family is called:
(a) Stagnant farming (b) Subsistence farming
(c) Commercial farming (d) None of these
31 Decay of handicrafts was caused by:
(a) British tariff policy
(b) Competition from machine-made products
(c) Change in the patterns of demand
(d) All of these
32 On the eve of independence, India was net exporter of:
(a) Primary products (b) Industrial products
(c) Capital goods (d) All of these
33 High infant mortality is a sign of:
(a) Extreme poverty (b) Poor healthcare
(c) Both (a) and (b) (d) None of these
34 Gender-bias in the society on eve of independence was indicated by:
(a) Mortality rate (b) Literacy rate
(c) Death rate (d) Life expectancy

35 During colonial period, India's demographic profile showed:

(a) High birth rate (b) High death rate
(c) High infant mortality (d) All of these
36 During the British rule, the agricultural sector experienced stagnation mainly due to the:
(a) Land settlement systems (b) Foreign trade
(c) Infrastructure (d) Industries

37 The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869:

(a) Raised the cost of transportation between Britain and India.
(b) Intensified British control over India’s foreign trade.
(c) Reduced the cost of transportation and made access to the Indian market easier.
(d) Both (b) and (c)

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38 Arrange the following events of India before the independence in chronological order:
(i) The opening of the Suez Canal (ii) Introduction of the railways
(iii)Second stage of demographic transition (iv) Incorporation of the Tata Iron and
Steel Company
(a) i,ii,iii,iv (b)ii,i,iv,iii (c) ii,iv,iii,i (d)iv,iii,ii,i

39 Most of the studies disclosed that India’s growth of aggregate real output during the first half
of the twentieth century was less than
(a) 0.5% (b) 5% (c) 2% (d) 1.5%
40 Various details about the population of British India were first collected through a census in
.
(a) 1881 (b) 1911 (c) 1921 (d) 1951
41 On the eve of independence, the proportion of population engaged in agricultural sector was:
(a) approx. 40-50% (b) approx. 50-60%

(c) approx. 60-65% (d) approx. 70-75%

42 The economic policies pursued by the colonial government in India were concerned with the
protection and promotion of the economic interests of their home country. How did these
policies affect the Indian Economy?
(a) Higher rate of growth of industries, especially Handicraft Industries.
(b) It transformed the country into supplier of raw materials.
(c) The country became consumer of finished products from Britain.
(d) Both (b) and (c)
43 The British rule led to the collapse of India’s world famous handicraft industries.
What was its effect on Indian economy?
(a) Massive unemployment in India
(b) Increasing imports of cheap manufactured goods from Britain.
(c) Both (a) and (b)
(d) Neither (a) nor (b)
44 In how many sectors is the occupational structure of India is divided?
(A) One
(B)Two
(C) Three
(D) Four

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45 What is another name for the service sector?
(A)Tertiary
(B) primary
(C) secondary
(D) agriculture
46 What was the nature of the Indian economy on the eve of Independence?
(A) stagnant
(B) backward
(C) underdeveloped
(D) all of these
47 What was the life expectancy at birth in India on the eve of Independence?
(A) 44 years
(B) 50 years
(C) 60 years
(D) all of these
48 Where was the first iron and Steel company established?
(A) Kolkata
(B) Jamshedpur
(C) Patna
(D) Ranchi
49 Which of the following economist estimated per capita income during colonial period
(A) William Digby
(B) Findley Shirras
(C) Dada Bhai Naoroji
(D) All of these
50 The foundation of British Empire in India was laid by Battle of Plassey, fought in _________.
A.1758
B.1575
C.1757
D.1577
51 _____________________ of agriculture means production of crops for sale in the market rather than for
self-consumption.
A.Generalisation
B.Colonisation
C.Commercialisation
D. Surplus
52 What was the infant mortality rate during the British period?
A.218/1000
B. 88/1000
C. 200/1000
D. 160/1000
53 Among the notable estimators — Dadabhai Naoroji, William Digby, Findlay Shirras, V.K.R.V.
Rao and R.C. Desai — it was ………….., whose estimates during the colonial period was
considered very significant. Fill in the black with correct option given below
A. William Digby,
B. Dadabhai Naoroji,
C. Findlay Shirras
D. V. K. R. V. Rao
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54 Suez Canal was opened in:
(a) 1867
(b) 1868
(c) 1869
(d) 1870
55 Which sector was the major contributor to GDP of the country as well as the biggest employer on
the eve of independence?
(a) Agriculture
(b) industry
(c) Services
(d) Manufacturing
56 During British period , Indian economy was
A- semi feudal economy
B -disintegrated economy
C- colonial economy
D- all of above
57 In British India the cloth industry was concentrated at
A –Ahmadabad
B – Hyderabad
C – Bengluru
D – Ghazibad
58 During the British rule, high mortality rate was due to:-
a) Inadequate public health facilities
b) Occurrence of frequent natural calamities
c) Both (a) and (b)
d) Neither (a) nor (b)
59 When did modern industry began take root in India?
A – second half of 18th century
B – first half of 20th century
C - second half of 19th century
D - first half of 19th century
60 There was a lack of which kind of industries in the colonial period?
A - consumer goods industry
B – luxury goods industry
C – capital goods industry
D – private goods industry

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61 The impact of British policy on India economic structure was:-
a) India becomes supplier of raw materials and consumer of finished industrial products from
Britain
b) India became supplier of finished product to Britain
c) India became supplier of finished industrial products and consumer of raw materials from
Britain
d) Both B and C
62 Capital goods industries are those industries which:-
a) Helps in Production of consumers good directly
b) Helps in production of machines and tools which produce consumer goods
c) Helps in agriculture production only
d) Needs more capital
63 Under colonial dispensation the economic policies of the government were concerned with:-
a) Development of handicraft industries
b) Development of the colonized country
c) Promotion of British economic interest
d) None of these
64 The opening of Suez Canal served as a direct route for ships operating between:-
a) India and America
b) India and Britain
c) India and Srilanka
d) India and Pakistan
65 The exports surplus during the British rule was used:-
a) To make payments for expenses incurred by an office set up by the colonial government in
Britain.
b) To meet expenses on war fought by the British government.
c) To import invisible items.
d) All of these.
66 Before 1921, India was in the ______________ of demographic transition.
a) First stage
b) Second stage
c) Third stage
d) None of the above
67 High Birth Rate and Low Death Rate represents ___________ stage of demographic transition.
a) Third
b) First
c) Second
d) First and second
68 The railways affected the structure of the Indian economy in two ways-
a) Commercialization of crops
b) Indian village becomes self-sufficient.
c) Broken the geographical and cultural barriers
d) Only A and C

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 ANSWER
1.(a) 2. (a) 3. (b) 4. ( c) 5. (b) 6. (d) 7. ( c) 8. (c) 9. ( c) 10. (d)
11. ( c) 12. (d) 13. (b) 14. ( c) 15. (a) 16- (C) 17- (B) 18- (D) 19-(C) 20-(A)

21-(C) 22- (D) 23-(B) 24-(A) 25-(B) 26-(B) 27-(A) 28-(A) 29-(B) 30-B
31-D 32-A 33-C 34-B 35-D 36-A 37-D 38-B 39-C 40-A
41-D 42-D 43-C 44-C 45-A 46-D 47-A 48-B 49-D 50-C
51-C 52-A 53-D 54-C 55-A 56-D 57-A 58-A 59-C 60-C
61-A 62-B 63-C 64-B 65-D 66-A 67-C 68-D

PREPIRED BY : PGT ECONOMICS OF BHUBANESWAR, GUWAHATI,

KOLKATA, RANCHI, SILCHAR AND TINSIKIA REGION.

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