Who among the following Indian freedom fighters made an attempt to estimate the per capita income of India ?

Dadabhai Naoroji, known as the 'Grand Old Man of India', was the first Indian freedom fighter to attempt a systematic estimation of India's per capita income. In his seminal work, 'Poverty and Un-British Rule in India', he calculated the per capita income for the year 1867-68 to be approximately ₹20 [c1, t2]. Naoroji utilized these statistics to support his 'Drain of Wealth' theory, arguing that British colonial policies were systematically extracting India's resources and impoverishing the population [t6, t8]. He computed a subsistence-based poverty line ranging from ₹16 to ₹35 per year based on prevailing prices [c1]. While other leaders like G.K. Gokhale and M.G. Ranade also critiqued colonial economic policies, Naoroji's quantitative approach to national income and per capita figures was pioneering in the 19th century [t3, t6].

Sources

1. [1] Indian Economy, Nitin Singhania .(ed 2nd 2021-22) > Chapter 3: Poverty, Inequality and Unemployment > Pre-Independence Estimates > p. 37