INDIA DURING AND AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR

Co-operation

An important part in this general improvement was assigned to co-operation. Luring 1945-1946 the number of provincial and central co-operative banks was 614, with a total membership of 226,600. The working capital increased from Rs. 60 lakhs in 1944-1945 to 69.97 lakhs in 1945-1946. The number of agricultural co-operative societies rose from 136,354 in 1944-1945 to 146,958 in 1946, and their membership increased from 5,013,00 to 5,50 1,000. It was expected that they would all function fruitfully under the democratic Governments at the Centre and in the Provinces.

Due to the planned efforts, there has been considerable expansion in the works of the co-operative societies in different spheres including agricultural credit, supply of farm inputs, marketing processing and consumer trade.

Trade

The Second World War had, of course, far-reaching effects upon India’s trade. It cut her off entirely from the continent of Europe, and from Japan and various neighbouring countries which were overrun by the Japanese, and it interfered greatly with her trade with the countries within the British Commonwealth of Nations. There was an actual decline of about 38 per cent in exports and 70 per cent in imports in 1942-1943 as compared with the pre-war year 1938-1939. There was, however, an improvement in India’s trading position in 1943-1944 as compared with the previous year. The composition of her export trade was also vastly altered during the war. There was an increase in the exports of manufactured goods and a decrease in those of raw materials. “In 1938 manufactured articles comprised only 30.5 per cent of exports, and raw materials and food 44.3 per cent and 23.5 percent respectively. In 1944 manufactured articles were 51.5 per cent and raw materials and food 24.7 per cent and 22.5 per cent respectively.” The figures mentioned do not include imports of foodgrains, etc., made on Government account, and imports of Government stores, railway stocks, etc. During 1946 the value of India’s total trade amounted to Rs. 566.2 crores compared with Rs. 481.9 crores in 1945, there being a larger rise in exports than in imports. The import trade of India, however, soon began to revive and revert to the pre-war position. Even the imports of manufactured articles increased from 31.9 per cent in 1944 to 55.4 per cent in 1946, but certain considerations led to the issue, in May and July 1947, of import control orders intended to reduce imports. The export trade of India was slow to regain its pre-war position, owing mainly to the continuance of shortages of agricultural products and the “rising levels of consumptions”. On the cessation of hostilities private trade with different countries, so long suspended, could be resumed. Among the important changes in the direction of India’s trade it may be noted that a favourable balance of trade was maintained with the countries of the British Commonwealth from the beginning of the war till 1945, but that there was an adverse balance in 1946. The value of both export and import trade with the U.S.A. rose. “The leap in the imports of American merchandise into this country from Rs. 978 lakhs in 1938-1939 to Rs. 67,40 lakhs in 1945-1946 is very significant especially in comparison with the increase in the imports from the U.K. during the same period from Rs. 88,56 lakhs to Rs. 101,83 lakhs. There was an adverse balance of trade with the U.S.A. in 1945, but this was altered in India’s favour in 1946. The Indian Tariff Board, constituted in 1945, made some recommendations regarding the claims of various industries for protection, but these could not be implemented at once. One notable event of the year 1947 affecting the foreign trade of India was her participation in the Geneva Trade Conference at which several important economic agreements were concluded.

 Since Independence, India’s foreign trade has undergone considerable change and it is no longer confined to a few countries. India now has trading relations with almost all the countries of the world with whom it has entered into Trade Agreements. There are to-day three thousand items in the country’s export list as against about fifty at the time when India attained independence. There has also been much increase in imports to meet the economic development needs. The total value of India’s foreign trade during the years 1971-1972 and 1972-1973 amounted to Rs. 3,418-63 crores and Rs. 3,286-12 crores, respectively. India’s exports began to increase during the Third Five-Year Plan period. In 1972-1973 (April-February) the total value of exports amounted to Rs. 1,703-29 crores. There have been various efforts on the part of India for the expansion and diversification of her exports. The bulk of India’s exports consists of agricultural produce, jute manufacture, tea and coffee, iron ore and other minerals, and cotton fabrics. India’s imports include foodgrains, fertilizers, capital goods, machinery, steel, and non-ferrous metals. In spite of an impressive growth in India’s exports, there has been a deficit of Rs. 425 crores in her trade balance during the first eight months of 1974-1975 as compared with the total deficit of Rs. 437.7 crores during 1973-1974.

Education and Social Progress

The reorganisation of the educational system is universally recognised to be indispensable to the progress of the Indian nation. The new-born democracy and sense of nationalism must be nourished and developed by the spread of the right type of education amongst all sections of the people. It should be remembered that the percentage of literacy between 1931 and 1941 rose from 8 to only about 12. In spite of the increase in the number of institutions, and the new educational measures of recent years, illiteracy still remains an appalling problem for the country.

At the request of the Government of India, the Central Advisory Board of Education submitted at the beginning of 1944 a post-war plan of educational reconstruction covering all the branches of education. It not only prescribed universal compulsory and free education for all boys and girls from six to fourteen, but also contemplated the provision of nursery schools and classes for ten lakhs of children below the age of six. It further recommended the provision of secondary schools with a view to fostering varied types of technical and vocational education suited to the aptitudes of pupils of different classes and capabilities. It also emphasised the need for granting liberal financial assistance in the form of free tuition, scholarships and maintenance grants, so that poverty might be no obstacle to the education of students of proved ability. As a corollary to this it stressed the need for adequate and improved arrangements for higher education, both in Universities and in professional and technical institutions of University level. The Board emphasised the necessity of “enlarging and making more practical the present provision for technical, commercial and art instruction at all levels in order to provide India with the research workers, executives and skilled craftsmen which the expansion of her industrial, economic and agricultural resources will inevitably demand”. It also called for greater facilities for the cultural and recreational side of education to help the students “to fulfil themselves as individuals”. Feeling that “a curriculum devoid of an ethical basis would prove barren in the end”, it attached high importance to the training of character at all stages of education through a properly articulated combination of physical, mental and moral instruction. The Board made it clear that its object throughout was not “to plan an ideal system of public instruction, but rather to lay down the very minimum necessary to place India on an approximate level with other civilised communities”, and suggested that the various authorities in charge of education might work out detailed schemes to suit the particular needs of their respective areas.

The Central and Provincial Governments were not slow in formulating plans and schemes for the development of primary, secondary and University education, physical education, education of the handicapped, and vocational (technical, agricultural and commercial) education. The Wardha system of Basic Education, which combines training in handicrafts with literary education, was gradually introduced in different areas by the new provincial Governments. The question of replacing English as the medium of University education was also mooted and was discussed at a meeting of the Vice-Chancellors of the different Universities and the Minister in charge of education of the Central Government. The consensus of opinion in the matter was that at this transitional stage the medium should continue to be English for a certain period, to be gradually replaced by the regional or the State language at the end of that period.