INFRASTRUCTURE DURING THE BRITISH RULE

INFRASTRUCTURE ON THE EVE OF INDEPENDENCE

The economic and social elements of Infrastructure remained undeveloped except for the Railways, Ports and a few roads made and introduced by the Britishers for the transportation of raw materials from one place to another smoothly.

The state of infrastructure:

1. Roads: The colonial administration could not accomplish much on the construction of roads due to scarcity of funds.

• The roads that were built, primarily served the interests of mobilising the army and shifting raw materials.
• There always remained an acute shortage of all-weather roads to reach out to rural areas during the rainy season. As a result, people living in these areas suffered badly during natural calamities and famines.

2. Railways: The most important contribution of British rule was to introduce railways in India in 1850. The railways affected the structure of the Indian economy in two important ways:

• Railways enabled people to undertake long distance travel. It broke geographical and cultural barriers and promoted national integration.
• It enhanced the commercialization of Indian agriculture, which adversely affected the comparative self-sufficiency of the village economies in India. Railways also promoted foreign trade but it benefited the Britishers more than the Indians. The construction of railways First Railway Bridge linking led to huge economic losses for the Indian economy.

3. Air and Water Transport: British Government took measures for developing water and air transport. However, their development was far from satisfactory.

• Inland waterways proved to be uneconomical, as in the case of the Coast Canal on the Orissa coast. This canal was built at a huge cost, but it failed to compete with the railways, and finally, canal had to be abandoned.

4. Communication: Posts and telegraphs were the most popular means of communication.

• The introduction of the expensive system of electric aviation, in 1932 telegraph in India served the purpose of maintaining law and order.
• The postal services, despite serving a useful public purpose, remained inadequate.

Reasons for Infrastructural Development

The basic objective of the British Government to develop infrastructure was not to provide basic amenities to the people but to serve their own colonial interests.

1. The Roads were built for mobilizing the army within India and for drawing out raw materials from the countryside to the nearest railway station or port and to send these to England or other lucrative foreign destinations.

2. Railways were developed by the Britishers mainly for three reasons:

• To have effective control and administration over the vast Indian territory;
• To earn profits through foreign trade by linking railways with major ports.
• To make a profitable investment of British funds in India.

3. The system of Electric Telegraph was introduced at a high cost to serve the purpose of maintaining law and order