Temples built by Jawaharlal Nehru

As India celebrates 75 years of independence, Indians will see it as an opportunity to remember Jawaharlal Nehru’s immortal speech, “A Tryst with Destiny”, delivered on the night of August 14, 1947, and its haunting Poetic Expressions – “In a jiffy” midnight, when the world sleeps, India wakes up to life and freedom.” For most people, that speech and the person who uttered those words felt the spirit of a new nation that had just been born To them, some recent attempts to undermine Nehru’s place in history may seem like a small distraction.

vision of a modern nation

Nehru’s shining legacy is deeply rooted in India’s growth story since independence. In May this year, when the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) launched India’s largest public issue and collected ₹21,000 crore from the market, the nation knew it was a Nehruvian institution set up in the early years of independent India. Equally, when we look at the famous names of global CEOs and corporate leaders, we can identify many of them as ‘children’ of Nehru, as they belong to the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IITs). Educated at IIM). ,

In 1947, as prime minister, Nehru inherited an India that was politically shattered, socially divided and emotionally devastated. Yet, with restraint and self-confidence, he led the country through those turbulent times and laid out a vision of a modern, progressive nation that has quietly earned the respect of the global community.

Ideas and Institutions

Nehru’s vision of India was in a set of ideas such as democracy, secularism, inclusive economic growth, free press and non-alignment in international affairs, and also in the institutions that would lay the foundation for India’s future development. These institutions touched on all kinds of economic activities, from agriculture to aviation and space research. An agnostic Nehru described them as “the temples of modern India”. Of these, there were about 75 institutions which included Bhakra-Nangal Dam, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, LIC, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Indian Oil Corporation, National Library of India and National Institutes. of design. Nehru saw him rise to the commanding heights of a stable, self-reliant economy with the welfare of the people as his central mission. Nehru’s inclusive approach ensured that these institutions were spread across the entire social circle. When IITs were planned, Nehru also established a network of Kendriya Vidyalayas. With major projects in steel and petroleum, Nehru saw the importance of promoting small and cottage industries and established the Khadi and Village Industries Commission. When Bhilai, Durgapur and Rourkela were taking shape as functional townships, the Prime Minister also felt the need for a well designed, modern city and thus Chandigarh was born. Chandigarh was probably India’s first ‘smart city’ when the term was not yet fashionable.

Two of these institutions deserve special mention: the Election Commission of India and the Planning Commission. They relate to the core tenets of the Nehruvian approach: the triumph of democracy along with development. Nehru’s institutions flourished under the management of a group of skilled individuals who shared his idealism and his vision of modern India. These were people of stature and higher education. They were technocrats, scientists and professionals with impressive records of past achievements. These included Homi Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai, PC Mahalanobis, Verghese Kurien, SS Bhatnagar, S. Bhagwantam and CD Deshmukh. Each of them led the project’s fate with high professional standards, setting benchmarks for project performance and identifying other layers of leadership for the project’s future development. Many of these institutions have reached global standards over the years. Indian Oil became the first Indian company to be listed in the Fortune 100 in 2014. Amul emerged as the most renowned consumer brand in the country and India became the largest milk producer in the world.

change in economy

Prime Minister Nehru’s 17-year rule set the stage for momentum in the Indian economy and his management model became a role model for many successful prime ministers. This was a period in which seismic changes were witnessed in the Indian economy. The Green Revolution that transformed India from a basket case to a grain-exporting nation, the Telephone Revolution that replaced the telephone as a symbol of the elite lifestyle in mass ownership, and the Digital Revolution that transformed India into a global technology hub. All played one after the other. And then came the significant reforms in 1991 under Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao, which transformed the economy into an open, liberal and largely market-driven regime.

The success of these missions is attributed to the Nehruvian model, with many scientists and technocrats playing a central role in these achievements, such as MS Swaminathan, Sam Pitroda, Dr Manmohan Singh and Nandan Nilekani. Collectively, these shifts have lifted more than 300 million Indians above the poverty line and heralded the advent of a modern, diverse globally connected economy with a significant digital component.

Now, in the third decade of the 21st century, India is widely recognized as the world’s fastest growing large economy. This is an incredible change in scale and depth in 75 years. It all started with a man’s dream and the many temples of growth and development created by him. His lasting influence attests to Nehru’s place in history. Among the political leaders of the newly independent nations of the 20th century, Nehru emerged as a unique figure who combined intellectual stature with widespread popularity. economist A widely read obituary on May 30, 1964, titled “The World Without Nehru”, reads, “During the long years of his premiership, he retained his magical grip on the great masses of the people.” The equation that an Indian Prime Minister had with his people is so far unique and unhelpful.

C. Sharath Chandran is a Senior Fellow of the London School of Economics