Give a quantitative appraisal of India's demographic profile during the colonial period.

Question

Accepted Answer

India's demographic conditions during the British rule depicted the economy as stagnant and backward:

1. Both the birth rate and death rate were as high as 48 and 40 per thousand respectively. Due to the high birth rate and high death rate, population growth was almost stagnant.

2. The infant mortality rate was also very high, about 218 per thousand.

3. The life expectancy rate was as low as 32 years, while it is about 67 years today.

4. The literacy rate was less than 16 percent, with female literacy at a negligible low of about 7 percent, which denotes social backwardness and gender bias in the economy.

5. In the absence of reliable data, it is difficult to specify the extent of poverty at that time, but there is no doubt that extensive poverty prevailed in India during the colonial period.

The first official census was conducted in 1881, and the year 1921 came to be described as the 'Year of the Great Divide'.