One of the major considerations to think about in India is how they changed their government as soon as they became an
independent nation in 1947. How was their political situation under British rule different than after 1947 when they were under their own rule?
3 comments:
One of the biggest differences in the technology department was where the scientists were getting the money to do the research. Post 1947 there was an increase in public (Government) Funding was the main source of money for the scientists. The way the government and institutions were arranged were after the ones the British put into place while they were in rule. It very much consisted of a top down system where a director is in charge of councils which over see facilities who have staffs of people. In this way the Indian government is very much tied to the way the government was set up previous. The government sponsored many scientific studies because it was seen as "the pride of India" because of the large scale projects such as nuclear and Space science. In this way although the British did leave the country, they left their policy and structure behind for the Indians to copy, and the technology department just did that.
A large factor leading to power change in India was simply the result of global political change. The conclusion of WWII left Britain without the means or resources to maintain any power in India. That in concert with the growing restlessness of the nation left India knocking on the door of independence. As a newly sovereign nation, adaptations needed to happen. India's self governance began years before their independence. But in 1947 the government required more effort. Elections for roles like the president happened every 5 years. What all of this means is India was making decisions for itself now more than ever. They were carrying all of the risk that an independent nation has. What this leads of is more discussion about who will be holding the risk and who will be making decisions about investment. We'll continue to see and gather more and more information about governance and independence.
An interesting idea came to me as i was reading up on the history of India. The idea was that India's government was set up much along the same lines as the US'. Both were built with the underlying help of Britain's leadership and now they both emphasize the concepts of nationalism and social classes. India, like America, threw out some of the old policies and exchanged them (as Mason would say mixed) with laws that more readily adapted to the cultural ideals. As we look at how India is fairing now, we see a country that is emerging out of poverty and is entering a stage of industrialization. Their fairing as well as they ever have economically and are very well of on the basis of education.
Post a Comment