When India woke up free on August 15, 1947, Independence did not immediately change the economic realities of everyday life.
The country had inherited poverty, low literacy, food insecurity and minimal industrial capacity. For the average family, Independence was as much about the promise of better material life as it was about political freedom.
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One widely cited reconstruction by economist Amartya Sen and Jean Drèze put the share of Indians living below the poverty line at around 60% in 1947, while broader historical economic estimates generally place the poverty rate in 1947 between 70% and 80%.
