Write the history of national income estimates in India?
What are the estimates of National Income before and after independence?
Ans:
Estimations of National Income before independence:
Several estimates of National Income were prepared during the British period. The 1st estimate of national income was prepared by Dadabhai Nauroji for the year 1867 - 68. Accordingly the N.I and Per Capita Income of the country were Rs. 340 crores & Rs. 20 respectively.
Notable among the estimators before independence were William Digby (1899), Findlay Shirras (1911, 1922 & 1931), Shah and Khambatta (1921), Dr. V.K.R.V. Rao (1925-29 & 1931-32) & R.C Desai (1931-40). To estimate National Income they have estimated the value of the output of the agricultural sector and then added a certain percentage as the income of the non-agricultural sector. The credit for the 1st scientific estimate of N.I goes to Dr. V.K.R.V. Rao. He made use of a combination of census of output and census of income methods. Accordingly the N.I and Per Capita Income of the country were Rs. 1400 crores & Rs. 120 respectively.
J.R. Hicks, M. Mukherjee and S.K. Ghosh have calculated the rate of growth of per-capita income. The result presents a picture of near stagnation with a growth rate of 0.5% for 1860 - 1945.
Post independence period estimates:
National Income Committee Estimates
After attaining independence, “National Income Committee” was appointed in August 1949, with Prof. P.C. Mahalnobis as chairman, Dr.V.K.R.V Rao & D.R. Gadgil as members to estimate National Income. They used Product Method in Primary and Secondary sector and Income Method in tertiary sector. A report of National Income