Dr. Santosh Kumar
Abstract
Given
the role of money in an economy and prevalence of different monetary standard
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar wrote a thesis titled ‘The Problems of Rupee: Its Origin and
Solution’ for which he was awarded with D.Sc. (Economics) by London School of
Economics in 1923. In his thesis he brought out clearly the problem that Indian
rupee faced on account of different monetary standards in India and Britain.
India was subjected to Silver standard while Britain followed at the same time
Gold standard. He claims that British government attempted to introduce the
Gold standard in India but they were never serious about it and rather they
introduced Gold exchange standard fixing the value of rupee in terms of pound
sterling where pound sterling was based on Gold standard system. However, the
exchange ratio was manipulated through easy monetary policy by the British
government to benefit Britain with greater amount of resource transfer from
India to Britain and also ensuring that gold reserve does not rise in India.
This process created long lasting adverse economic impact on India that has
been continuing even today and it is visible through continuously depreciating
exchange rate of India.
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Published: June 2025 [Vol. 08, No. 06]