The role played by India during World War II (1939-1945) led to its emergence as one of the key economies in the world, but that aspect is not talked about as compared to the reforms process of 1991, according to historian Srinath Raghavan.
Mr. Raghavan, senior fellow, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, detailed India’s contribution during the war and the impact it had on the expansion of army and other sectors of the economy.
“The Indian Army in World War II expanded to over 2.5 million men, in one of its biggest expansion projects when compared to the total size of the Indian army in 1939,” he pointed out at a lecture on ‘India’s Long Rise as an Asian Power: The Second World War and After’, organised by the Madras Institute of Development studies.
Mr. Raghavan also said another significant part in the expansion process was that the recruitment for army became diverse, involving different communities.
“While Indians in the First World War were recruited mainly from the so-called ‘martial races’ (Sikhs, Gurkhas, Pathans and, Rajputs), the net was widened during the Second World War to include young men from Madras, Bengal, Bihar and Bombay,” he said.
The war also led to growth in employment opportunities providing social mobility to the weaker sections of the society, he added.
