Ankit Kumar

It is true that under the British rule, there was significant infrastructural development in the country. But the actual motive of the British behind the infrastructure development was only to serve their own colonial interests. British rule brought about development in the areas of transport and communication. The roads served the purpose of mobilising the army within India and facilitating transportation of raw materials from different parts of the country to ports, and ports were developed for easy and fast exports to and Imports from Britain. Similarly, railways were introduced and developed for commercialization of agriculture and for the transportation of finished goods of British industries to the interiors of India. Railways assisted British industries to widen the market for their finished products. Posts and telegraphs were developed to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the British administration in maintaining law and order. Hence, the aim of infrastructural development was not the growth and development of the Indian Economy but to serve the economic and political interests of Britain.

Yes, we agree with the above statement that the traditional handicrafts industries were ruined under the British rule. The following are the reasons in favour of the statement. (i) Discriminatory Tariff Policy The British rule used India both as a source of cheap raw materials as well as easy accessible market for their finished products. Thereby, they imposed heavy tariffs (export duties) on India's export of handicraft products, while allowed free export of India's raw material to Britain and free import of British finished products into India. This made India's exports costlier and its international demand loll drastically leading to the collapse of handicraft industries. (ii) Competition from Machine-made Britain Goods The demand for the handicrafts products experienced a downward trend in the domestic markets as well. This was due to stiff competition from the machine made textiles from Britain. The goods produced mechanically in Britain using cheap raw material from India were comparatively lower in price and of superior quality than the Indian handicraft goods. This narrowed the market for Indian handicrafts industries. (iii) Emergence of Western Lifestyle The British rule in India popularized Western lifestyle in India. There was an emergence of a new section of population (consisting mainly of zamindars) in India who liked the British goods and also promoted their use to please the British Government. This section used to spend lavishly on the British products that provided impetus for the development of British Industries al the cost of the domestic Industries. Hence, gradually Indian handicrafts industries perished away. (iv) Downfall of Princely State Prior to the British rule, nawabs, rajas, princes and emperors ruled different parts of the country. They used to patronise handicrafts industries and consequently, Indian handicrafts gained reputation n; the international markets. But during the British rule, these princely stales were ruined thereby ruining the protection of those handicrafts industries. Thus, Indian handicrafts industries could not survive.