CHAPTER FIRST
Introduction, Problems and Hypotheses
The Pre-Independence Era in India:
During the preindependence era, the national leaders of the country often made great
promises in their speeches for bringing an era of Ram Rajya in the country soon after the
attainment of Swaraj or complete political freedom from the British-rule. In this regard the
backward sections of the rural society were promised radical social and economic upliftment
while the poor cultivators were assured of ownership of land that they cultivated. The
poor and the unemployed people were given promises of economic prosperity and full employment
through government's different schemes of national planning and industrial development.
Since a vast majority of India's population resides in villages which, in general, is
scattered from the geographical point of view and in a way remain shattered for a long time
backward from modern point of view of socio - economic development.
The Major Direction of the Present Research:
In this context, the major direction of the present research was to find out asto how far
the national government has succeeded in fulfilling the promises of the national leaders
after the attainment of freedom in 1947. In this regard, in order to assess the degree of
such success, it is hypothesized,