NTA UGC/NET/SET/JRF Political Science Paper 2 - 2024, 2nd Edition, Includes 2023 Solved Papers

CHAPTER 1

State, Economy and Development

NATURE OF THE INDIAN STATE

Indian economic policy after independence was influenced by the colonial experience which was seen by Indian leaders as exploitative in nature and by those leaders’ exposure to the idea of Fabian socialism. Nehru, and the other leaders of the independent India, sought an alternative to the extreme variations of capitalism and socialism.

In this system, India would be a socialist society with a strong public sector but also with private property and democracy. As part of it, India adopted a centralised planning approach. Policy tended towards protectionism, with a strong emphasis on import substitution, industrialisation under state monitoring, state intervention at the micro ...