When writing about my revered father, Lal Bahadur Shastri, the second Prime Minister of India, the affectionate word “Babuji” is what comes to my mind, the term we used to address him. He was a great and most popular Prime Minister and also a great father.
I still remember the days when I hardly got an opportunity to see him or even talk to him. On some days, the most we could do was to peep through the door and say bye to him before leaving for school. He would be deeply engrossed in his files and the moment he heard us, would lower his spectacles, look up and smile. This would satisfy the three of us, Anil, Ashok and me.
Once, two weeks had passed and I had not spoken to him even once. I was annoyed and decided to remain awake till he returned. He was stunned to see me waiting for him and told me that I looked very angry. As I didn’t reply, he ran his fingers through my hair.
“Babuji, what type of father you are?” I asked him. “You never bother to ask how we are or about our studies.” He sat down and with great love and emotion said, “Sunil, you are an intelligent boy. You should also realise that the people of this country have put the great responsibility of the Prime Ministership on my shoulders. As the head of the nation, my family is not only limited to you children but also the whole country is my bigger family... I am sure, Sunil, you will appreciate my feelings and would not feel hurt anymore. I love you and will love you always.”
A rural focus
Lal Bahadur Shastri believed that the country could only progress economically if planners had a clear concept of rural development in the context of growing unemployment. He believed that the rural economy should be given top priority to stem the flow of youth into cities looking for jobs. That vocational education was key to this was his strong belief.
The making of a new India should be the aim and goal of everyone, and in 1964 he said, “In the long run, the economic condition of the country will improve only if we plan the economy in a rational and scientific manner. We are in the midst of preparing our fourth Five Year Plan. Agriculture is bound to get high priority. Industry is equally important and the combination of industry and agriculture alone will take the country out of the morass we are in and present a cheering picture before our people.” He had visualised that along with the Industrial Revolution, it was the Green Revolution combined with the White Revolution which could raise the economic standard of people.
Toning up administration
He also believed that the efficiency and integrity of the administration was important to get policies and programmes implemented in the right spirit. He felt that extensive reforms of the administration were essential if the task of economic development and social reconstruction was to be accomplished. The administrative system was to be made an effective instrument of economic change, and it was Shastriji who constituted the Administrative Reform Commission. I feel this step proved to be a milestone in ensuring economic development.
He felt agriculture and unemployment should be looked into with seriousness. While addressing the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India in Calcutta in December 1964, he touched upon the subject of increasing foreign exchange reserves, expansion in industrial production and stagnation in agricultural output. He was concerned about agricultural growth and said, “First and foremost, the efforts to increase agricultural production on a steady, long-term basis deserve the highest priority. I have not the slightest doubt that our agricultural production can be substantially stepped up.” It is this confidence that has helped the country claim a “surplus in food grains”.
Not only me but everyone in the country believes that Lal Bahadur Shastri was in true words the “Janak” of the Green Revolution.
I came across this quotation on Babuji’s table, where he used to work: “O Nanak, remain a small one as small as grass, Other plants will whither away, But the grass will remain ever green.”
I must have read these lines many times but was unable to understand what it meant. One day, I managed to stop him and ask him to explain it to me. “Sunil, a beautiful flower attracts everyone for some time and the moment it loses its fragrance, people discard it without any feelings. But green grass remains green throughout the year. I have always tried to remain like grass and never desired to be a beautiful flower. My aim in life is to provide happiness and enable a harmonious atmosphere for everyone forever.”
On hearing this, I requested him to tell me something inspiring.
His prompt reply: “Your motto should be, ‘be an edifice and not the structure; the structure can fall, but the edifice remains’.”
I never knew that Babuji would leave us so early. Though he is not there physically, these lines have been a great source of inspiration.
Babuji also felt that if administrative reforms were vital, then educational reforms were also the need of the hour. Shastriji’s expectations from India’s youth was the same which he expected from me; that the youth should act as a strong foundation on which a prosperous and strong India could stand. He said, “The completion of education marks a turning point in the life of every individual. Naturally every individual is anxious to get suitable employment. Opportunity for employment is being created increasingly as our development plans are implemented.”
I would like to conclude by saying that the slogan he coined, “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan”, is even more relevant today; economic development and employment generation should be the guiding force in our planning for the future.
Sunil Shastri is a former Minister from Uttar Pradesh and a former Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
