Q.Why were official estimates of national income not prepared during the pre- independence period?
Dear Student
During the Pre-independence or British period, several estimates of national income were made by Dadabhai Naoroji (1868), William Digby (1899), Findlay Shirras (1911, 1922 and 1934), Shah and Khambatta (1921), V.K.R.V. Rao (1925-29) and R.C. Desai (1931-40) . Among all these pre-independence estimates of national income in India, the estimates of Naoroji, Findlay Shirras and Shaw and Khambatta have computed the value of the output raised by the agricultural sector and then added some portion of the income earned by the non-agricultural sector. But these estimates were having no scientific basis of its own. After that Dr. V.K.R.V. Rao applied a combination of census of output and census of income methods. All these estimates of national income were conducted out of individual effort and were subjected to serious limitations due to some of its arbitrary assumptions. Although pre-independence estimates of national income in India suffered from various difficulties and limitations but it provided considerable insight about the economic conditions of the country prevailing during that period .
Regards .
During the Pre-independence or British period, several estimates of national income were made by Dadabhai Naoroji (1868), William Digby (1899), Findlay Shirras (1911, 1922 and 1934), Shah and Khambatta (1921), V.K.R.V. Rao (1925-29) and R.C. Desai (1931-40) . Among all these pre-independence estimates of national income in India, the estimates of Naoroji, Findlay Shirras and Shaw and Khambatta have computed the value of the output raised by the agricultural sector and then added some portion of the income earned by the non-agricultural sector. But these estimates were having no scientific basis of its own. After that Dr. V.K.R.V. Rao applied a combination of census of output and census of income methods. All these estimates of national income were conducted out of individual effort and were subjected to serious limitations due to some of its arbitrary assumptions. Although pre-independence estimates of national income in India suffered from various difficulties and limitations but it provided considerable insight about the economic conditions of the country prevailing during that period .
Regards .
