Freedom is a basic human right for any person. Every individual deserves freedom in any country. The freedom we are enjoying in our country today has been made possible after the sacrifice of many freedom fighters of our country. They sacrificed themselves and freed our country India from British rule.
When the Britishers left India in 1947, the condition of our country was almost in shambles. Be it the economy, poverty, infrastructure, life expectancy, military, education, and many other aspects, India was far behind compared to other countries. In this article, ‘India in 1947 vs Now,’ we will compare where India stood in 1947 and where it stands now.
1. Military
In 1947, the Indian Military had a number of about 400,000 and at that time PM Jawaharlal Nehru wanted to reduce the size of the military.
After the huge defeat in the 1962 war with China, India realized the importance of having a powerful military in a country.
Due to this realization, the military was strengthened, Pakistan was defeated in several wars and today India’s military is the 4th most powerful military in the world.
2. GDP
India used to be a golden bird at one time. But it was repeatedly invaded and its wealth was taken away.
The Britishers also left no stone unturned in looting India. In their nearly 200-year rule, they looted India of almost $45 trillion (today’s value) worth of wealth.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar explained that the Britishers took away $45 trillion worth of wealth from India according to today’s standards.
3. GDP per capita
At the time when the British came to India, India had a significant share in global business. And we all know in what state they left India in 1947.
4. Poverty rate
India was going through one of its worst times in its history in 1947. There was poverty all over the country, people had no work to do, so there was no money.
5. Roads
At the time when the British left India, the country had a total of approximately 40,000 km road network.
6. Indian Railways
It is said that Indian Railways was a gift given to India by the Britishers. However, this is our country, our money, our workers, so how can this be a gift?
The British built railway tracks so that they could engage in more economic activity and loot the country’s money.
7. Population
In 1947, when our country became independent, the population of our country was 340 million (34 crores).
8. Vehicles
As we discussed earlier that the condition of India was not very good in 1947. And we can estimate this from the fact that there were only about 360,000 vehicles of all types in our country, which is low.
9. Life Expectancy
Even life expectancy was quite low compared to our present time. Back then, the average life expectancy was only 32 years.
10. Literacy Rate
In a good society, literacy rate is quite important and it is obvious that the British may not have paid enough attention to the education of Indians.
11. Petrol Price
At that time, petrol used to cost only 27 paise per liter, which is equivalent to about ₹24-27 per liter today.
Also Read – First Images of Moon clicked by Chandrayaan-3
Conclusion
This was a comparison between India in 1947 and today. Our country has come a long way since then and will continue to progress even further in the future.