All of a sudden when #becauseofnehru went on to be trending on Twitter, I decided to give my 2 cents on this topic to the readers on this website too.
People are generally aware of what good things Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru did for our country, but not everyone knows why he has always been criticized by prominent economists and socialists.
Right after the independence when the first five year plan was being drafted Nehruji emphasized on having a mixed economy that will have space for the private sector. But with time as his powers grew, new laws against the private sector were made by his support. The economic freedom of the people was reduced in the name of nationalization of the industries and limits were being put on the amount of land one could hold which eventually brought down the whole agricultural industry.
Nehru amended the Constitution many times during that phase in order to pave way for the plans which he had set in his mind. Nehruji made sure that the government had the control on almost every other sector and to ensure this he made it clear that the state can intervene if it sees that the performance of the industry is unsatisfactory.
He was highly criticized by Sardar Patel for his moves. Just months before passing away, he said, “A government which engages itself in trading activities will come to grief.”
When the second five year plan came, Nehru got even bolder and made sure that economy sees further decrement in the coming years. He stripped off the right of the individuals to indulge in different forms of commerce related activities. This injustice gave birth to an organization called, Forum of Free Enterprise, it published manifestos in major newspapers and raised questions about how important a free enterprise was to a democratic setup.
But it was very difficult to stop Nehru at that point of time. The government continued taking over many industries and in case it got difficult to take over an industry, it fixed prices to destroy it. As a result of all this and his heavy dependence on socialism, India’s economy got shattered in the 1960’s.
The prejudices which Jawaharlal Nehru had against capitalism gave rise to inflation and pushed India back when another part of the world was busy developing themselves rapidly. His over dependency on the public sector brought growth rate of our country below 4% and made sure that we were left far behind from the other countries.
India is still recovering from the debacle of the economy, which happened in the 1950s and 1960s. If it were for smarter policies, better laws, and a more open view towards different concepts of economy at that time, the economic structure would never have suffered this badly. And not to forget, the economy has a direct effect on all other aspects related to the growth of the country. Just imagine what a whole lot of difference could have been brought about if things wouldn’t have gone the way they did, courtesy Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru.
