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Introduction
Nehru, the first prime minister of India has often been referred to as the builder of modern India, whose far-sightedness laid the foundations for the development of future India. That's what we all have read in our history textbooks, however, over the years he has been termed as an incompetent prime minister. We see political leaders blaming him for the state of the country today. " Nehru ki galti" has become a general phrase to escape allegations by many politicians. An elitist who brought ruin to the nation was illegally made the first prime minister, was a puppet of the British, and ruined the foreign affairs of the nation are just some of the allegations put on him. The term, Nehruvian Socialism has been stuck in my mind when I listen to anyone make allegations about Nehru being an elitist. Isn't socialism the welfare of the poor? What was his policy of socialism, and how did it pan out for the future of India? How and when did these ideas develop? Can Nehru be blamed for all the problems in present India? These are some of the questions I have attempted to answer in this article by critically examining Jawaharlal Nehru's early years, education, the influence of socialism, being part of the nationalist struggle, the general environment of the Congress party, his relationship with Gandhi over economic issues and post-independence developmental plans.
Early Influences and Education
Jawaharlal Nehru was born in 1889 to, Motilal Nehru, who was one of the most successful lawyers in the Allahabad High Court. The father and son duo were to play a crucial role in the political development of the Indian National Congress, heading crucial committees and passing resolutions. Their love for each other was tremendous, as can be seen in the exchange of regular letters in the years when Nehru was in England for his education. One recurring topic in these letters was the political developments in India, of which Motilal had been an active participant. Jawaharlal gave his views on his father's political stance, sometimes even going to the extent of calling him pro-British. These early years in Europe were the time when Nehru's interest in politics was ignited. Against his father's wishes for him to become an ICS officer, he decided to pursue law. It's easy to view Nehru as an elite modern Indian 'Prince' who had the privilege to study in the best schools and colleges abroad while the majority of Indians didn't have access to basic education. In his days at Trinity College in England, he read widely about politics and economics and was greatly influenced by the writings of Fabian Socialism. It was a school of thought within socialism that emerged in the late 19th century in Britain. Fabian socialists advocated for the gradual implementation of socialist principles through non-revolutionary means, such as legislation, education, and persuasion.
Nationalist Struggle and Influence of Gandhi
Nehru returned to India in 1912 and started practicing in the Allahabad High Court. In the following years, his interest as a lawyer began weaning, and it was gradually replaced with politics. During these years his political views could be termed as radical with involvement in the home rule league as opposed to his father's moderate views which were built more on cooperation with the British.
Rowlatt Satyagraha in 1919 and the eventual non-cooperation movement were some of the major moments in the Indian national struggle and were just as important for Nehru's political career, who was an active participant in the freedom struggle and was imprisoned. It was during these years that his interaction with Gandhi increased and so was the latter's influence on him.
Evolution of Nehru's Socialist Ideals
Nehru's ideas were ever-developing and in the long span of his political career continuously changed. He had problems with both capitalism and socialism. He said in 1919, "Present-day democracy manipulated by the unholy alliance of capital property, militarism, and an overgrown bureaucracy and assisted by a capitalist press has proved delusion and a snare... but this is not the fault of democracy. Rather, it is due to the many-sided influences which capitalists aided and abetted by a host of others who fatten under the present regime have exercised over the governments of the west."
However, socialism was not the automatic answer to him. He expressed skepticism about the idea, stating, "Orthodox socialism does not give us much hope. The war has shown that an all-powerful state is no lover of individual liberty. It is the breeding ground for the bureaucrat who in the West, as in the East, is most intolerant of criticism and is seldom enamored of progress. Life under socialism would be a joyless and soulless thing regulated to the minute details by rules and orders framed by the all-powerful official Cortes." In 1919, in the context of the First World War, Jawaharlal Nehru still had not made up his mind as to what the course between the two options should look like.
In 1920, during the non-cooperation movement, his first proper visit to real India changed him dramatically. This sight of poverty was a revelation that left a lasting impact on his mind.
"Looking at them and their misery and overflowing gratitude, I was filled with shame and sorrow, shame at my easygoing and comfortable life and our petty politics of the city which ignored the vast multitude of semi-naked sons and daughters of India, sorrow at the degradation and overwhelming poverty of India."
His socialism was constructed more around a deep desire to end this widespread poverty in his country than around the works of Karl Marx or other ideas. Jawaharlal’s mind often dragged him leftward, however, his faith in Gandhi's leadership stopped him a long way short of Marxism.
Nehru's first breakthrough in international politics came in Feb 1927 at Brussels during the International Congress against Colonial Oppression and Imperialism which he attended as the representative of INC. From there he visited the USSR in the same year and was greatly impressed by the development of the country under the socialist system and state planning. Nehru was so inspired by the Soviet Union's achievements in socialist rebuilding that he started promoting socialist ideals after returning to India. He firmly believed that the socialist route was the only way to address India's complex social and economic issues.
We can observe his ideas develop with time as his political views change, on 22 September 1928, still fresh in memory was the visit to the Soviet Union, his views can be seen as strongly socialist. At the same time, the idea that communism as done in the Soviet Union may not be replicable or suit the environment of India was clear to him.
"...I wish to tell you that though personally I do not agree with many of the methods of communists, and I am by no means sure to what extent communism can suit present conditions in India, I do believe in communism as an ideal of society. For essentially it is Socialism and socialism, I think, is the only way if the world is to escape disaster."
In 1929, he was given the honor of heading the Congress in the annual session in Lahore. This was a crucial session as it was set in the agenda of Purna Swaraj and was followed by the Salt Satyagraha. In the session, he announced, "I must frankly confess, that I am a socialist and a republican and am no believer in kings and princes, or in the order which produces the modern kings of industry, who have greater power over the lives and fortunes of men than even kings of old, and whose methods are as predatory as those of the old feudal aristocracy."
He was arrested at the end of 1931 and spent a long time in jail for the next few years. These few years in jail would also be the years when he would write some of his most famous works, such as his autobiography and the book, Glimpses of World History. At the same time, he widely read a variety of subjects. Books read in jail, and friends like Krishna Menon ensured that he would serve the Left, but never at the expense of Gandhi.
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In 1931, at the Congress session, held in Karachi the future structure of the Indian economy was discussed at length and various economic proposals were passed. The role and control of the state in the economic field was considered vital. It was resolved that the state would have control over principal industries, public services, mineral resources, railways, water, and air transportation.
In 1934, in protest against Congress resolutions on private property and the treatment of the working class, a group of young men led by Rafi Ahmed Kidwai and Bose formed the Congress Socialist Party as a pressure group and appealed to Jawaharlal to take the lead against the 'reactionaries'. Gandhi wasn't happy with the socialist uprising in Congress and said "I have welcomed the formation of the socialist group. Many of them are respected and self-sacrificing co-workers. With all this, I have fundamental differences with them on the programme published in their authorized pamphlets ... If they gain ascendancy in the Congress, as they well may, I cannot remain in the Congress."
Nehru had made it clear that there was no question of staying in a Congress without Gandhi. He may have been intellectually a socialist, but politically he was a Gandhian, having been influenced by Gandhi's philosophy on non-violence and commitment to social justice. However, at the same time, there were major differences on the economic front because of Nehru’s socialist ideals which Gandhi never formally approved of.
Nehru never wavered in the fact that the Congress would always be his party and Gandhi his leader. His primary objective was freedom and socialism for him could come later. The economic policy of socialism did not go beyond the resolutions reached at the Karachi session in 1931 and when it came time to formulate a manifesto for the first elections that the Congress Party would contest there was no mention of socialism.
In 1936 in the Lucknow session of the congress, it was decided that the party would contest the general elections. This was against Nehru's wishes who did not want to legitimize the elections, however, he spent much of the year campaigning for his party across the country.
During the election campaign in Bombay in 1936, he proudly said, "If the Congress has grown stronger, it is because I raised the issue of socialism. Today the masses in the country have come nearer to Congress and to that extent, the position of Congress has strengthened. I myself have derived strength for what little I do because I have seen the sufferings and poverty of the peasants and the workers." The party ended up dominating the country in the elections and won a decisive victory in the provinces.
In 1938, under the Congress President-ship of Subhas Chandra Bose, the national planning committee was instituted with Nehru as its chairman. This is where the ideological rift between Nehru and Gandhi becomes clear once again. Gandhi was largely unconvinced of the effectiveness of planning.
Nehru presented his views on the building of heavy industries during the National Planning Commission meeting on 21 December 1938, "There can be no planning if such planning does not include big industries, but in making our plans we have to remember the basic Congress policy of encouraging cottage industries." This shows that while Nehru was strongly in favour of heavy industries in the country, he was restricted by Gandhi and had to incorporate Gandhian economic policies as well.
While Bose went in search of liberation through Germany and Japan, and the Communists in India sought liberation through the Soviet Union, Nehru was stuck to liberation through khadi.
The congress in the last few years of British rule was dominated by the duo of Gandhi and Nehru. Gandhi also ended up proclaiming Nehru as his heir and this led to his Nehru getting the opportunity of heading the first government of independent India. This is when he finally got the opportunity to truly show his socialist colours and shape the future economy of the country.
Post-Independence Economic Policies
The AICC did not forget about planning, despite riots threatening India's basic existence. The Constitution and Economic Programme Committee was established in November 1947, and its members included J. C. Kumarappa, Shanker Rao Deo, Gulzarilal Nanda, Jaya Prakash, Azad, Ranga, and Nehru. Its report was published on January 25, 1948. Among its recommendations was the creation of a permanent Planning Commission in the country.
On April 6, 1948, the government released its first Industrial Policy Resolution, establishing a state monopoly over the production of railroads, atomic energy, and defence equipment. It also reserved rights over any new industries involved in mining, shipbuilding, coal, steel, communications, and aircraft. Even this was far less than Nehru would have wanted as the policy assured business houses that there would be no nationalization, and that foreign firms could continue as before.
The Planning Commission was institutionalized in 1950, and the Prime Minister became its Chairman. A welfare state of a socialist pattern was his ideal for many decades. The main function of the planning commission was to design, implement, monitor, and evaluate the Five Year Plans.
The main achievement of the First Plan was in agriculture. sector. According to the plan, The problem was the exploitative social and economic relationships in village India. This meant that the framework of village relations had to be remodeled.
The change in village relations wasn't as successful as the land reforms, and making the village panchayat the centre of rural development worked well in the country.
With the first FYP, change did come, but not to the extent Nehru wanted. And there were results. Food grain production increased by 20%, as targets were reached and exceeded. Irrigation went to 16 million more acres. Overall the national income rose by 18 percent, per capita income by 11%, and per capita consumption by 9%. The abolition of zamindari and the reform of tenancy created a new environment and the plan succeeded in the broader picture and in the context of the time.
The Second FYP would end up being, much bigger, more Nehruvian and also, more controversial. Given Nehru's great interest in it, the Planning Commission became much more than a high-ranking advisory body, All those working in this department had one thing in common, a commitment to Nehruvian socialism - a peaceful social and economic revolution, without turmoil.
The government committed itself to a socialistic pattern of society in the Lok Sabha. On 8 January 1955, the Congress steering committee met in Delhi and decided that an official resolution on economic policy be placed before the sixtieth session of the party at Avadi.
The Congress session at Avadi in 1955 resulted in cementing Nehru's position as the party's central figure and the Congress declared the socialist pattern of society to be its goal.
The Second FYP was set in motion in 1956. It was heavily influenced by the previous year's Congress resolution to work towards a socialist pattern of society.
The Second Plan reflected the new priorities.
Public sector investment went up two and a half times the First Plan level. And the private sector investment by plan-end was placed at only Rs 2,400 crores, or about so percentage higher. The Second Plan reversed the importance of the private and public sectors; it was the state that was now in charge of rapid Industrialization.
The agriculture lobby demanded more money but wasn't allowed the sum. By the summer of 1957 agricultural production went below the level of 1953-4. In just August, September, and October food prices jumped. They were forced to import food grain. Time only pushed up costs, even as it ate away foreign exchange reserves. Inflation forced the reallocation of plan outlays, but the core sectors were protected.
He won the elections a second time in 1957 even after the socialist inclinations of his policies which now dominated the party. Congress dominated the entire country and retained control over almost all of India.
After securing his position, he continued carrying out his reforms and, in 1959, supported an Indian National Congress resolution on cooperative farming and state trading of food grains.
The Third FYP started in 1961. Its objectives included the achievement of self-sufficiency in food grains and increasing agricultural production to cater to the needs of industries and export expansion of the public sector, expansion of basic industries and the machine-making industries so that the requirements of further industrialisation, optimum utilization of manpower expansion and equality of opportunities, lessening the disparities of income and wealth and ensuring equal distribution of economic resources.
Nehru died before the completion of the third FYP. During the period India fought two costly wars in 1962 and 1965.
Conclusion
Nehru's socialist vision of India has left a lasting impact on the socio-economic landscape of the nation. His support for democratic socialism, which was balanced by Gandhian ideals, guided the country in the early years of its independence. Nehru's emphasis on social welfare programmes and state participation in important economic areas was aimed at building a more just society.
The first 3 FYPs could not succeed in the aims and objectives of the Nehruvian concept of development but to a large extent, the FYPs put the Indian economy on modern lines thus providing the foundations for India's economy.
Even though Nehru's socialist agenda faced challenges and limitations, especially in execution and efficiency, its long-lasting influence cannot be overlooked.
By- Shivansh Shrivastava
Shivansh Shrivastava is a second-year undergraduate student pursuing Sociology at Hindu College, Delhi University. He is a member of the Symposium Society and Hindu College Gazette, where he actively engages and organises policy and deliberation activities. He has a keen interest in politics and public policy, with plans to pursue postgraduate studies in these fields.
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