(From previous issue)
He was of the clear opinion that the pharmaceutical manufacturing industries in India should flourish and there should be no excise duty applicable on inter-provincial trade. He stressed the importance of improving livestock and increasing agricultural production in the country.
Sardar Patel wanted to have a good relation between industry and labour, because the differences arising at that time could turn out to be a severe blow to India’s industrial future. He insisted on adopting the policy of mediation to solve the problem prevailing between industry and labour, as he had done earlier in Ahmedabad. Although there was a labour government in England and they were far ahead in the field of industrialization, they were moving very slowly towards nationalization. This was likely to lead to industrial peace and good conditions of production. He was strongly against the strike and criticized the organizers who resorted to strikes merely to give importance to their leadership & politics. A strike stops production and less production means promoting poverty. He inspired those who wanted to break this endless cycle.
Patel tried to allay the apprehensions of the industrialists regarding nationalization and assured them that since the industry is yet to be established and expanded, the question of nationalization does not arise. He appealed to the resourceful businessmen to come forward and help the government in improving the condition of the poor and said that when there are crores of people in the country who are hungry, it is a sin to eat comfortably twice a day.
Patel fixed a certain amount for the salary and allowances of the ministers and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and suggested to the Prime Minister that there is no need to deploy more than two security personnel apart from a few policemen to them from the point of view of security. He refused the demand for increase in the allowance payable to the Governor of Odisha. He praised those, who gave up their luxuries to serve the country as a minister or speaker. In the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Central Advisory Council of Industries, Patel told that there is a lot of foreign capital in the country, but after independence it has decreased significantly due to post-World War II inflation, which has increased the prices and taxes have become high. He advised the Finance Minister to re-evaluate the entire taxation according to the current situation in the next budget.
Sardar Patel insisted that a committee of experts should be constituted, consisting of industrialists, economists and representatives of the government, who should be entrusted with the task of implementing the framework and policies laid down by the government. The then Prime Minister, Nehru, who had earlier decided to create a separate ministry for social and economic affairs, changed his mind after hearing Sardar’s views and agreed to set up a board or special advisory committee, which will monitor the economic situation at every step and submit its suggestions to the government for consideration.
Sardar Patel’s advice on the economic policies of the nation was not followed after his death. India adopted an immature socialist framework, due to which there were dire consequences and the country had to pay a heavy price. Communist Russia, which Nehru regarded as the ideal state, had to face unimaginable difficulties and eventually due to its disintegration, it had to return to a free economy in mid-Ninety.
The liberal steps taken by the Narsimha Rao government shortly before the disintegration and economic ruin of Soviet Russia confirms Patel’s foregoing thought and realistic approach. Nehru’s socialism had brought the country to such a place that the Congress Government at the Center had to reverse the policies and liberalize the economy, which was not thought of forty years ago.
(The author is a technocrat & educationist. He holds Master in Engineering from M.N. Regional Engineering College, Allahabad/Prayagraj. He is the convener of Sardar Patel Rashtra Nirman Kendra)
(Concluded)
– Er. Prabhat Kishore
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