LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI JAYANTI

INTRODUCTION

Every year on October 2nd we celebrate the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the country pays respect to another great freedom fighter, statesman and India's second Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. 'Jai Jawan Jai Kisan', ("Hail the soldier, Hail the farmer") the slogan of Lal Bahadur Shastri, which etched in minds of every Indian.

HISTORY

Lal Bahadur Shastri was born on October 2,1904 in Ram Nagar, Ahmedabad Mughalsarai. Nanhe, or ‘little one’ as he was called at home.Lal Bahadur’s small town schooling was not remarkable in any way but he had a happy enough childhood. As he grew up, Lal Bahadur Shastri became more and more interested in the country’s struggle for freedom. After hearing a speech of Mahatma Gandhi at Varanasi in 1915, he dedicated his life to the service of the country. In 1930, he threw himself into the freedom struggle during Mahatma Gandhi's Salt Satyagraha. Later, he worked as the Organizing Secretary of the Parliamentary Board of U.P. in 1937.Shastri was elected to the legislature of the United Provinces in 1937 and 1946.

In 1951, Nehru nominated him to the Rajya Sabha. He served as the Minister of Railways and Transport in the Central Cabinet from 1951 to 1956. He was the second Prime Minister of independent India, who held term from 1964 to 1966 after the death of Jawaharlal Nehru. He was the first person to posthumously be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s most prestigious civilian award. Shastri’s death remains a mystery, though officially reported as a heart attack, a after signing the Tashkent Agreement on January 11th, 1966.

GOOD TRAITS OF LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI

Lal Bahadur Shastri was the first one to appoint women conductors in India during his period as Transport Minister. While being the minister in charge of the Police Department, he ordered that Police use jets of water instead of lathis to disperse unruly crowds.

He resigned his post as Minister for Railways because he felt responsible for a railway accident in which many lives were lost. The unprecedented gesture was greatly appreciated by Parliament and the country. Jawaharlal Nehru said he was accepting the resignation because it would set an example in constitutional propriety and not because Lal Bahadur Shastri was in any way responsible for what had happened. Replying to the long debate on the Railway accident, Lal Bahadur Shastri said; “Perhaps due to my being small in size and soft of tongue, people are apt to believe that I am not able to be very firm. Though not physically strong, I think I am internally not so weak.”

He was primarily concerned with the basic economic problems of the country at that point of time- food shortage, poverty and unemployment.