I  am surpised to read the Finance Minister of India saying ‘ India was never a rich country’ in one of his interviews  today on the occasion of promotion of his book ‘An outside view — Why good economics work for everyone.

On Chidambaram’s ‘poor’ knowledge about Indian history, Kalyan Singhal, Professor of Business, University of Baltimore, had commented on Economic Times on his statement and said that when the British had decided to arrive in India in 1757, half of India’s agriculture output was actually surplus.

Chidambaram said recently that  India poised to become third largest economy  in 20 years.

It  is nice in a way to talk either about the past or about the future for the politicians!

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In Picture : Famine victims, India, late nineteenth century. The staggering death toll from famine in Victorian India – about 7 million in the 1876-78 famine alone – was the result of the British policy of exporting food from India and collecting harsh taxes even in times of serious drought. The grain imports in Britain were to improve British diets and simultaneously keep grain prices stable. (Photo courtesy Mike Davis)

Further Reading : Double Standards – India during British Empire

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