Changes in Private Consumption Expenditure in India 1900-01 Το 1950-51

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Dr Bina Roy (Ph.D. in Economics, Calcutta University) was drafted for research work in the Planning Division of the Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta by Professor PC. Mahalanobis when he was, engaged in building up the famous Plan- Frame of the Second Five Year Plan for India. It was a lucky break for her quite early in her professional career.

Since then, her principal academic pursuit, has been the rigorous research. work in the field of national income and related aggregates, in the data based estimation of factor shares of National Income, distribution and concentration of national income by size groups of population in India. Besides teaching as an Associate Professor, this research work was, for nearly three decades, her whole-time pre- occupation in the Institute, her destiny.

As a senior member of the National Income Research Unit of the 151, She participated almost every year, in national and international conferences and seminars, held in India and abroad. Number of her published papers whether in edited volumes or in conference and seminar reports for surpassed about one hundred.

The author's labour was amply rewarded when the noted American economist, Professor R. W. Goldsmith, in his final work - India's Financial Development 1860- 1977 quoted extensively from her estimates, published in her book entitled "Capital Formation in India"

This study on private consumption expenditure has originally been undertaken as a Project of the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), unfortunately, the work has been delayed at the last lap for unforeseen circumstances, both personal and also various others.

However, for the above mentioned difficulties, the grant sanctioned by the ICSSR could not be availed of for this gigantic data-base project for the past period.

Past period studies, specially, if the purpose is to build up quantitative series to assess the actual growth rate, involve laborious investigation through the whole panorama of the Indian data-base, from Parliamentary Papers to Statistical Abstracts. Besides, the hords of books written by learned scholars on the subject for the contemporary period, have to be reckoned to gather knowledge of the interaction of various factors during the period under study.

This gratitude list could be long enough to seem as exaggeration only I may say, dedication always wins some reward. First credit goes to the sincerity of some technical assistants who assisted to collect the massive data as well as in processing Sarbasee Pranati Datta, Chaiti Sharma Biswas and also other senior and junior assistants who helped in various ways to complete this study It is now painful to mention because of the recent sad demise of my husband. In spite of his academic pre-occupations and ill health, he always inspired the another to go forward in her academic work by facing innumerable difficult situations His great help lies in constant effort to bring clarity and coherence to the observations made in the study and also various formulations made. And above all, he inspired tirelessly to finish the draft, to bring it into a final shape.

The opportunity of standing at the thresholds of a new millennium of history comes but once in a lifetime. On such rare occasion, it is natural to look back and map out the path that our nation has traversed during the first five decades of this century, which is rapidly slipping into the history The scope of this survey, however, is strictly limited to the changes in the material life of our people, e g the quantum of food they consumed, the level of literacy they reached, the amount of medical aid they received during their illness, clothing they wore or the houses they lived in.

During the post-independence period, the initiation of five-year plans for rapid development of the Indian economy drew attention towards the data base of the economy to bring out the information about total available resources and to quantify the need of the people. It was assumed, implementation of the five-year plans might surely lead, to some extent, to the process of changing the quality of life of this vast number of Indian people.

The process of development could not, however, follow its charted course Man-made and other difficulties impeded the expected process of development. The age-old feudal land system was kept intact with all its vices. This was done, in spite of the constitutional directive to change this obsolete land system to make provision to provide land to the tiller, to spread new life in agriculture to boost the economy. The people enacting in the ruling scene, were more prone to protect their vested interests. Side by side modern industrial bases were created leading to a mixed economy. The result is well known. Dormant regional disparities surfaced befor long.