Ans: C

Exp:

The term ‘economic drain’ refers to a portion of the national product of India which was not available for consumption by its people but was being drained away to Britain for political reasons. The critique of the drain of wealth from India became probably the most popular sentiment in the anti-colonial nationalist narrative. That the colonial rulers were taking out India’s money leading to the country’s impoverishment, was conceived as one of the biggest evils of the colonial regime.

Critiques of British Economic policies in India: Early Indian nationalists like Dadabhai Naoroji, M.G. Ranade and R.C. Dutt had expected Britain to undertake capitalist industrialization in India but were deeply disillusioned with the results of colonial industrial policies. Other economic critiques of colonialism were G V Joshi, G Subramaniam Iyer, GK Gokhale, PC Ray, etc.

Process: The revenues collected from India were used to pay the salaries and pensions of British civil and military officials working in India, the interest on loans taken out by the Indian government, and the profits of British capitalists in India. 

Consequences: A large portion of these resources, which could have been invested in India, were taken and used for England. This type of drain of tax proceeds from India impoverished India’s agriculture, industry, and trading activities, and was largely responsible for the country’s economic stagnation in the 18th and 19th centuries. The drain of wealth slowed capital formation in India.

Ans : D

Exp: 

Option 1 is incorrect: Paramountcy was a doctrine employed by the British colonial administration in India during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Through this policy, the British asserted their supremacy and dominance over the various princely states. The doctrine of paramountcy aimed to establish British control and influence over the princely states without annexing them outright.

Option 2 is incorrect: The subsidiary alliance policy was formulated by Lord Wellesley and was a diplomatic and military policy used by the British East India Company to bring Indian princely states under its indirect control without directly annexing them. 

Option 3 is incorrect: The Indian Councils Act of 1861 was a step in opening up the legislative process in British India to some extent. It provided for a portfolio system and expanded the viceroy executive council to include a fifth member.

Option 4 is correct: The Government of India Act of 1858, or  Act for the Good Government of India, effectively ended the rule of the British East India Company and transferred the administration of India directly to the British Crown. 

The Act led to the- end of Company rule,  establishment of the British Raj , creation of the position of Viceroy of India, who was to be the direct representative of the British monarch and the head of the Indian government;  maintained a dual system of governance, which included the central administration in India and the Secretary of State for India in Britain. 

Ans: A

Exp:

The Indian Factory Act, 1881 dealt primarily with the problem of child labour between 7 and 12 years of age.

Its significant provisions were:

• employment of children under 7 years of age prohibited; Hence, statement 1 is incorrect. 
• working hours restricted to 9 hours per day for children;
• hazardous machinery to be properly fenced off and 
• children to get four holidays in a month. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

Later, Indian Factory Act, 1891 provided a weekly holiday for all. But these laws did not apply to British-owned tea and coffee plantations, where the labour was exploited ruthlessly and treated like slaves.

Statement 3 is incorrect:  The First Factory Act (1881) was enacted during the tenure of Lord Ripon. Other important events during Lord Ripon’s were: 

• Continuation of financial decentralisation.
• Repeal of the Vernacular Press Act (1882).
• Government resolution on local self-government (1882).
• Appointment of Education Commission under chairmanship of Sir William Hunter (1882).
• The Ilbert Bill controversy (1883–84).
• Rendition of Mysore.

Ans: B

Exp: 

Statement 1 is incorrect : It was the policy of Ring Fence that aimed at creating buffer zones

to defend the Company’s frontiers, which was also reflected in Warren Hastings’ wars against

the Marathas and Mysore, not the policy of Subordinate Isolation. 

Statement 2 is correct: The major timeline of the Policy of Subordinate Isolation was 1813–1857. 

Under this policy, the states surrendered all forms of external sovereignty but retained sovereignty in internal administration. The Government of India exercised complete and undisputed control over international affairs—it could declare war, peace, or neutrality for states.

Ans : A

Exp: 

Option a is correct: The major reason for the development of railways in India during British rule was to facilitate the efficient transportation of agricultural produce, particularly cash crops, from the interior regions to the ports for export. The British colonial administration aimed to enhance India’s export-oriented economy by improving transportation infrastructure.

Options b, c and d are secondary benefits of development of the railway and not the primary reason.