Relevance of Nehruvian Legacy

The civil services examination covers Indian freedom struggle in both preliminary and mains. The mains exam specifically mentions personalities in the modern Indian history as part of the syllabi. The nation is celebrating the 125th birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru.

The trend in the exam is to ask questions that link the syllabi with the contemporary developments to test the dynamic understanding of the subject. Thus, an assessment of Nehruvian legacy which is now being fiercely debated assumes importance from the exam point of view.

We in this week’s exclusive focus on Nehru’s thoughts on wide ranging issues like democracy, secularism, foreign policy and economy for the benefit of our readers. This information is sourced from an authentic account of Nehru

In May 2014, India saw a peaceful transfer of power from one political formation to another for the eighth time since 1952. On September 24, 2014, the Mars Mission launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation entered the orbit of the red planet.

In 2008, India and United States concluded a Civil Nuclear Agreement which recognised India as a State with advanced nuclear technologies and brought India into the international nuclear mainstream. These are important but different moments in India’s recent history.

But, a common thread which runs through them and what they dramatically illustrate is how Nehru’s legacy is not just intact, but continues to lead modern day India to new heights of achievement.

Nehru’s services to India are immeasurable. He was one of the greatest figures of our times. Nehru had a clear vision of what modern India should look like and he set out to realise his dreams by establishing strong pillars which would support the young nation.

If India is a vibrant democracy today, it is because of the foundations laid by Nehru. If India has become the third largest economy in the world in terms of Purchasing Power Parity, it is because of the multi-purpose projects, the public sector undertakings and institutions of higher learning established by Nehru as well as the systematic planning process initiated by him.

If India is today counted amongst the technologically advanced nations of the world, it is because of Nehru’s promotion of scientific temper and the chain of scientific research laboratories that he built across the country. It is Nehru who brought India from a backward and dependent economy to the emerging power.

Nehru and the freedom movement

Jawaharlal Nehru’s contribution to the freedom movement was unique. The end of the First World War saw the unravelling of major empires ruled by the Kaiser, the Caliph and the Tsar. In India, 1917 saw the Home Rule Movement,

commence under the leadership of Dr Annie Besant. Jawaharlal Nehru, still in his twenties, began his political career as one of the Joint Secretaries of the Home Rule League in Uttar Pradesh with his father Motilal Nehru as President. Jawaharlal Nehru then plunged into the Non-Cooperation movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi and went to jail in December, 1921.

Thereafter, Nehru continued to be in the front ranks of the freedom movement. He became the Congress President at the age of 40 in the Lahore Congress of 1929. The transfer of baton from the father, Motilal Nehru who presided over the Congress Session at Calcutta in 1928 was not just symbolic. It truly meant a transfer of leadership of the Congress to the younger generation.

The Lahore Congress declared "Purna Swaraj” as its goal and authorised the launch of the Civil Disobedience Movement. Nehru then went on to become President of the Congress in the Lucknow Session of 1936, Faizpur Session in 1937 and many more times.

Long before freedom from foreign rule became a reality, Jawaharlal Nehru as President of the Indian National Congress declared in 1936 that India’s ultimate objective was the establishment of "a democratic state,” "full democracy” and a "new social and economic order”. Nehru also popularised the demand for a Constituent Assembly to draft India’s Constitution and made it a central issue in the 1937 provincial elections.

Nehru logged a total of 3262 days in jail during the freedom struggle with 1040 days during the 1942 Quit India Movement as the longest spell. It is during this period that Nehru penned the 1200 page manuscript of The Discovery of India while under arrest in Ahmednagar Fort. Nehru was prodigiously productive in terms of writing and thinking during his different periods in jail.

As is well known, Glimpses of World History was written by him in 1934, based on 196 letters written to his young daughter, Indira from various prisons. He covered in these letters the entire history of humankind from 6000 B.C. to the time of writing these letters using only his personal notes and without any reference books.

Nehru’s intense passion for India’s freedom can be seen from his words of April 1942, "We want much”, “Our appetite for freedom is insatiable. We are hungry for it, and our throats are parched with thirst.”

Secular State

Nehru was secular to the core. When the French writer André Malraux asked Nehru late in life what had been his most difficult task, he replied, "Creating a just state by just means, I think....” And, after a brief pause: "Perhaps creating a secular state in a religious country, especially when its religion is not founded on an inspired book.” It was because of Nehru’s consistent efforts that India established itself as a secular state with equal rights for all regardless of their religious affiliation.

Scientific Temper

Nehru believed that caste prejudices, religious bigotry, social inequalities etc. could be eliminated only by developing a scientific spirit in our social relations and mental habits. Along with scientific achievement, the development of a scientific frame of mind and a scientific habit of thinking was equally important. Science was not only a search for truth, but also meant for the betterment of man.

Scientific Policies was adopted by the Government and scientific laboratories set up across the country. Indian Institutes of Technology were established to nurture manpower in engineering. Frontier disciplines such as space and atomic energy came under the personal supervision of the Prime Minister.

For self-reliant economy

India emerged from colonial rule, a mostly agrarian country. Agriculture had been virtually stagnant for half a century and the average rate of economic growth was less than one per cent. Against this dismal backdrop, the first fifteen years saw an estimated GDP growth at 4 per cent and nearly 2 per cent per capita (as opposed to 0.1 percent in the years 1900-47).

This was a historic turning point and India was on par with the best performing economies of its time, ahead of China, UK and Japan. Congress President Subash Chandra Bose in 1938 set up a National Planning Committee with Jawaharlal Nehru as its Chairman.

Jawaharlal Nehru included in it not just politicians but scientists, economists, businessmen and industrialists. Planning was seen by Nehru as a vast national endeavour and not just the task of the Planning Commission. The well known economist P.C. Mahalanobis described the Nehruvian approach to planning as the Middle Way or the Middle Path.

The Mixed Economy and Welfare State emerged thereafter as important concepts. The setting up of the Planning Commission, the emergence of the public sector, of land reforms, of regulations on industrial monopoly, of state trading were all the result of Nehru’s multifaceted initiatives. Nehru also devised the institution of the National Development Council (NDC) to secure national and inter-regional consensus on development programmes. The NDC has been described as an example of federalism in action.

Nehru oriented the country to the socialist path by including the Directive Principles of State Policy in the Constitution. It was at the historic Avadi Session of the Indian National Congress in 1955, that the Congress gave itself, formally, the creed of a socialistic pattern of society. The Session coincided with the launch of the Second Five Year Plan. From then onwards, vigorous utilisation of resources, rapid industrialisation and achieving equitable distribution became the nation’s priorities.

Nehru has been criticised in later years for having accorded primacy to the Government in economic matters. These policies must be however seen in the context of Nehru’s times. Capital formation in a society, exploited for 190 years was a huge task which could not be left to the private sector alone. Planning helped allocate scarce resources in accordance with national priorities.

The relative merit of a regulated economy was widely accepted those days. Nehru’s efforts did not throttle private initiative. The private sector continued to play an important role, especially in agriculture and small and medium industries.

In fact, during the early days of independence, even the private sector supported the idea of a key role for government in creating economic growth. Moreover, many private sector companies received strong support from public sector financial institutions, enabling them turn into domestic giants in their respective fields.

Nehru’s speech at the inauguration of the Bhakra Nangal Dam still remains in memory as one of his finest ever."For me, the temples, the gurudwaras, the churches, the mosques of today are these places where human beings labour for the benefit of other human beings, of humanity as a whole. They are the temples of today.

I feel more, if I may use the word, religious-minded when I see these great works than when I see any temple or any place of pure worship. These are the places of worship because here we worship something; we build up Indians; we build up the millions of India and so this is a sacred task”.

Investment in steel and fertilisers, hydro-electric dams and aluminium smelters had an all round effect on the economy. Growth rates in agriculture during 1950-65 averaged 2.6 percent, higher than in the entire first half of the 20thcentury in India.

The Non Alignment Policy

The aftermath of World War II saw the globe split between two rival power blocs of East and West. For India, more so for Nehru, who as Prime Minister, held the portfolio of foreign affairs for seventeen long years, staying out of military blocs and alliances was essential to maintaining freedom of action for the nascent Indian state. Nehru refused to accept assistance under the Marshall Plan so as not to compromise India’s independence in foreign policy matters.

Nehru’s policy of non-alignment did not mean equidistance or isolationism. It meant independence of judgment and action. It was not a passive but a pro-active and dynamic policy in which India was strongly committed to the goals of the United Nations and would do its best for peace in the world. Nehru did not wish to involve India in the conflict which the great powers were waging or become a camp follower of any group.

As early as in 1946, India moved a resolution in the United Nations General Assembly condemning racial discrimination in South Africa. India sent troops for peace keeping to the Gaza strip and Congo. India was a tireless campaigner against nuclear weapons and testing in the oceans and the atmosphere.

It played an important role in the conclusion of the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963. Today, when the Cold War has passed into history books, it should be kept in mind that Nehru’s foreign policy was rooted in the sound, consistent principle of "India first”.

Source: Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Lecture on “Jawaharlal Nehru and the Making of Modern India” by The President of India Pranab Mukherjee being organised on the occasion of 125th birth anniversary of the first Indian Prime Minister by Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial fund.