two-day Guest Lecture

DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY

                                         Two-day- Guest Lectures

 

 

The Department of History under “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav” organized two-day Guest Lectures for the students of the Department of History on 12th and 13th April 2022, in the Vinayak Hall. Dr Sharad Rathore, HOD History formally welcomed the guest speaker Dr. U.C. Chaturvedi (Former Head Department of History, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur).  On the first day Dr. Chaturvedi talked about the development and organization of the network, the trends in railway performance, the effects of ownership and regulatory policies, and the impact of railways on the Indian economy.  Originally, the Indian railways were operated by the private companies owned by the British businessmen. They were granted free land and given a guarantee of minimum returns on capital. These two companies entered into contract with East India Company for construction of two small railway lines near Calcutta and Bombay respectively. With this, the Indian Railways started its modest beginnings in 1853, when the first Railway train journeyed a distance of 22 miles from Bombay to Thana.

The lecture was followed by a question answer session in which the speaker answered the queries of the students. Ms Shubhi Mishra proposed a formal vote of thanks to the speaker. The students appreciated the lecture which added to their knowledge of the subject.

Next day on 13th April 2022, The lecture started with formal welcome of Dr. Chaturvedi by Dr. Monisha Raj from the Department of History. Dr. Chaturvedi introduced Dadabhai Naoroji was an pioneer in the study of colonialism and poverty. He was convinced that the main reason behind poverty was the colonial rule that was draining the wealth and prosperity of India. Dadabhai Naoroji propounded the Drain of Wealth theory in 1867. Many researchers have further analysed and developed it, including R.P.Dutt and M G Ranade. In 1867, Dadabhai Naoroji propsed what is known as the ‘economic imperialis’ theory, in which he stated that British economic policies were completely draining India. He mentioned this theory in his book, Poverty and Un-British Rule in India, and it is also known as the ‘Drain Theory’ Naoroji criticised that out of the revenues raised in India, approximately one-fourth of the money which is raised in India goes to England, which is the main cause of India’s poverty.

Lastly, Gaveshna Saraswat from the Department of proposed a formal vote of thanks to the speaker.