RAS question
Which Governor-General is known as the 'Maker of Modern India' and introduced railways, telegraph, and postal reforms?
Correct answer: (C) Lord Dalhousie.
Lord Dalhousie is known as the Maker of Modern India for introducing railways, telegraph and postal reforms in India.
Explanation
Lord Dalhousie is the right answer because railways, the telegraph and postal reform sit at the centre of his modernisation record. He is associated with the first railway line from Bombay to Thane in 1853, the telegraph and the modern postal system. Britannica describes Dalhousie as a governor-general who helped create a modern centralized Indian state and gave close attention to railway planning. It also says he planned and instituted electric telegraph lines and set up a centralized postal system based on a low uniform rate paid in advance through stamps. That combination of transport, communication and postal reform explains why the label Maker of Modern India is attached to him.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Lord Ripon is wrong because railways, the telegraph and postal reforms are associated with Lord Dalhousie's modernisation record.
- (B) Lord Canning is wrong because the first railway line, telegraph and modern postal system belong to Dalhousie's modernisation efforts.
- (D) Lord William Bentinck is wrong because railways, the telegraph and postal reform belong to Dalhousie's modernisation record, not to Bentinck.
Concept
This tests the modern Indian history theme of British-era infrastructure and administrative reforms. It recurs in RAS because railways, telegraph and postal changes are standard markers of colonial state formation and modernisation.