Opinion: In Numbers: How Partition Shaped Independent India's First Three Budgets

The horrors of India's Partition in 1946 were deeply traumatic. Nearly 1.8 crore people were forced to migrate, 1.2 crore became refugees, and approximately 10 lakh lives were lost. Such cataclysmic events were bound to affect the polity, economy, and social fabric of the impacted regions for years to come. A paper from Princeton University concludes that “the top decile of affected districts in each country experienced dramatic changes in its literacy rates, occupation structure and gender ratios”. 

Changes in gender ratios and occupational structures, along with many other factors, turned lives upside down. These life-altering shifts, which seemed to come out of nowhere, gave rise to thousands of stories—mostly tragic, but some filled with bravery, camaraderie and pure humanity. Such stories were poignantly depicted in films like Pinjar, Garam Hawa, Train to Pakistan, and, more recently, the two parts of Gadar and Kalank. While Garam Hawa focused on a Muslim businessman's dilemma about whether to stay in India or migrate to Pakistan, Pinjar highlighted the trials of a happily engaged woman whose life was shattered after being kidnapped by a man of a different religion during the traumatic events leading to the Partition.

The 1947 Budget

Amidst all this, what caught my attention was how the tragedy of such epic proportions was addressed in the early years of post-Independence India. There is no way to do so other than looking at budget announcements. I looked at three budget documents to make sense of the numbers, beginning with the one from 1947-48.

The first budget of Independent India described the Partition (1947-48) as the “most poignant human tragedy” outside of war. To understand how it was tackled, let's look at the allocations made for relief and rehabilitation. Of the total non-defence expenditure planned for the year, which amounted to Rs 104.5 crore, Rs 27 crore was earmarked for relief and rehabilitation, Rs 12 crore for health and education, and Rs 22 crore for pension and interest payments. Consider the attention it received: 26% of the total non-defence expenditure, that is, more than twice the amount allocated for education, health, and medical services combined! 

The next year's budget (1948-49) made these observations: “The dislocation caused by the mass migration of people between Western Pakistan and India remains to be surmounted, and only the fringe of the problem of rehabilitating the millions of people who have crossed over to India has so far been addressed… The budget for next year provides a substantial amount for relief and rehabilitation, and the House may rest assured that everything possible will be done to place these refugees in useful occupations as early as possible.”

Generous Provisions For Relief

A strong statement of intent, backed by funds. A sum of Rs 25 crore was allocated—Rs 10 crore for rehabilitation, Rs 10 crore to establish the Rehabilitation Finance Administration, and Rs 5 crore for loans and advances related to rehabilitation. This Rs 25 crore accounted for 18% of the country's planned non-defence expenditure at the time. For context, the total planned expenditure for health, education, and medical services was Rs 20.9 crore, while pension and debt servicing liabilities stood at Rs 43.8 crore the same year.

It turns out that the government of India ended up spending Rs 19.45 crore on rehabilitation in 1948-49, instead of the budgeted Rs 10 crore. The 1949-50 budget document states: “Of the total expenditure of Rs 165.16 crore provided in the budget, Rs 52.82 crore is accounted for by expenditure on refugees, food subsidies, and pre-partition payments.”

The point I'm making is that the first three budgets of Independent India made generous provisions for addressing the wounds of Partition. In today's terms, 26% of the total non-defence expenditure would amount to a huge sum that can take care of many problems. No wonder we are familiar with several resettlement colonies that went on to become growth engines of Independent India.

Learning The Right Lessons

We can view these events in two ways. One perspective is that the Partition was a tragedy of epic proportions, and the government did what it could to alleviate the immense hardships faced by the people. However, sceptics might argue that by neglecting crucial areas like health, education, and infrastructure for three long years, the government limited the growth potential of the economy in subsequent years.

You can pick your side; I will pick none. All I want to say is that we have a clear understanding of what led to the horrors of Partition and the toll it took on a young country—not only in the years when the carnage unfolded on the streets but also in the years that followed. Can we learn the right lessons?

Let us reflect on this until the next budget is announced. 

(The author is Consulting Editor, NDTV)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author