Q.2. Give an account of the challenges faced by India immediately after Independence.

India’s independence in 1947 was accompanied by profound and immediate challenges that threatened the new nation’s unity, stability, and future.

The major challenges were:

• Consequences of Partition:
  • Massive Refugee Crisis: The displacement of over 12 million people across the newly created borders of Punjab and Bengal, creating an immediate humanitarian crisis of relief and rehabilitation.
  • Communal Violence: Unprecedented and widespread communal riots, massacres, and abductions, resulting in the death of an estimated one million people.
  • Border Disputes: The Radcliffe Line created immediate disputes, most notably in Kashmir, which led to the first Indo-Pak War (1947-48).
• Political and Administrative Integration:
  • Integration of Princely States: The monumental task of integrating over 560 princely states into the Indian Union. This required significant political negotiation and, in cases like Hyderabad, Junagadh, and Kashmir, coercion or military action.
  • Administrative Vacuum: The departure of British officials left a void in the administrative machinery (the “steel frame”), which needed to be filled immediately to maintain governance.
  • Constitution Making: The Constituent Assembly was tasked with the critical challenge of drafting a new, democratic constitution acceptable to all sections of a highly diverse population.
• Socio-Economic Challenges:
  • Stagnant Colonial Economy: India inherited a depleted economy with a weak industrial base, backward agriculture dependent on monsoons, and destroyed trade patterns.
  • Widespread Poverty and Illiteracy: The nation faced mass poverty, near-famine conditions, low life expectancy, and an illiteracy rate of over 80%.
  • Linguistic Reorganization: Strong demands for the creation of states on a linguistic basis posed a challenge to national unity.

Despite these overwhelming obstacles, India’s leadership and people laid a resilient foundation, successfully navigating this critical period to build a sovereign, democratic republic.