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during the Non-Cooperation Movement. She was imprisoned in September 1942, and worked, in riot-affected areas of Delhi in 1947 under Gandhi’s guidance., She got married to Feroze Gandhi on March 26, 1942 and had two sons. Smt. Gandhi became a, Member, Congress Working Committee and Central Election of the party in 1955. In 1958 she, was appointed as a Member for Central Parliamentary Board of Congress. She was the, Chairperson, National Integration Council of A.I.C.C. and President, All India Youth Congress,, 1956 and Women’s Dept. A.I.C.C. She became the President, Indian National Congress in 1959, and served till 1960 and then again from January 1978., She had been Minister for Information and Broadcasting (1964- 1966). Then she held the highest, office as the Prime Minister of India from January 1966 to March 1977. Concurrently, she was, the Minister for Atomic Energy from September 1967 to March 1977. She also held the, additional charge of the Ministry of External Affairs from September 5, 1967 to February 14,, 1969. Smt. Gandhi headed the Ministry of Home Affairs from June 1970 to November 1973 and, Minister for Space from June 1972 to March 1977. From January 1980 she was Chairperson,, Planning Commission. She again chaired the prime Minister’s Office from January 14, 1980., Smt. Indira Gandhi was associated with a large number of organisations and institutions,, Smt. Gandhi also became a Member of Rajya Sabha in August 1964 and served till February, 1967. She was the Member of Lok Sabha during fourth, fifth and sixth sessions. She was elected, to the Seventh Lok Sabha from Rae Bareli (U.P.) and Medak (Andhra Pradesh) in January 1980., She chose to retain the Medak seat and relinquished the Rae Bareli seat. She was chosen as the, leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party in 1967-77 and again in January 1980., She had many achievements to her credit. She was the recipient of Bharat Ratna in 1972,, Her famous publications include ‘The Years of Challenge’ (1966-69), ‘The Years of Endeavour’, (1969-72), ‘India’ (London) in 1975; ‘Inde’ (Lausanne) in 1979 and numerous other collections, of speeches and writings. She travelled widely in India and all over the world., Nationalisation of 14 Private-Sector Banks, Despite the provisions, control and regulations of the Reserve Bank of India most banks in India, had continued to be owned and operated by private persons. Businessmen who owned the, banks were often accused of channeling the deposits into their own companies and, ignoring Priority sector lending Furthermore, there was a great resentment, against class banking in India, which had left the poor (the majority of the population), Unbanking. After becoming prime minister, Gandhi expressed her intention of nationalising the, banks to alleviate poverty in a paper titled, "Stray thoughts on Bank Nationalisation". The paper, received overwhelming public support. In 1969, Gandhi moved to nationalise fourteen major, commercial banks. Under this ordinance, the ownership of 14 major commercial private bankswhich controlled 70% of the country’s deposits- was transferred to the Central government., The first reason for nationalization was because of the unpredictable manner in which these, banks functioned, where 361 private banks ‘failed’ across the country between 1947 and 1955., Depositors would lose all their money as they were not offered any guarantee by their
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respective banks. Another reason for nationalization was the fact that these banks only catered, to large industries and businesses, where the agriculture sector was largely ignored. Between, 1950 and 1967, the percentage of loans given to farmers declined from 2.3% to 2.2%., The issue of the above-stated ordinance was to make credit easily available to the ‘priority, sector’; agriculture, small industries, traders and entrepreneurs. Moreover, this ordinance, sought to establish banks in rural and backward areas. After this, public sector bank branch, deposits increased by approximately 800 percent; advances took a huge jump by 11,000, percent Nationalisation also resulted in significant growth in the geographic coverage of banks;, the number of bank branches rose from 8,200 to over 62,000, most of which were opened in, unbanked, rural areas. Jayaprakash Narayan, who became famous for leading the opposition to, Gandhi in the 1970s, solidly praised her nationalisation of banks., Having been re-elected in 1971 on a nationalisation platform, Gandhi proceeded to nationalise, the coal, steel, copper, refining, cotton textiles, and insurance industries. Most of this was done, to protect employment and the interests of organised labour. The remaining private sector, industries were placed under strict regulatory control. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971,, foreign-owned private oil companies had refused to supply fuel to the Indian Navy and the, Indian Air Force. In response, Gandhi nationalised oil companies in 1973. After nationalisation,, the oil majors such as the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the Hindustan Petroleum, Corporation (HPCL) and the Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) had to keep a minimum stock, level of oil, to be supplied to the military when needed., THE GARIBI HATAO PROGRAMME, In the late sixties, it was increasingly being realised that the economic policies and power, structures had only brought about limited growth. But there had hardly been equitable, distribution of its benefit. Indira was aware of these ground realities and was by no means, separated from the broader leftist ideological paradigm vis-a-vis development. As the Prime, Minister, she was concerned about the steep prices affecting the economy and was also aware, that the poor were the worst hit by the situation. She was aware of the implications of the, massive land grab movements inspired by leftist ideology., In the preparations of the Fourth Five Year Plan, she constantly expressed her special concerns, for the weaker sections of the population. She told her supporters that with their support, she, was determined to fight against poverty effectively. She pursued the Nehruvian model of, development with a greater degree of zeal and enterprise. Indira’s political opponents, campaigned on the slogan “Indira Hatao,“ (Remove Indira), Indira retooled it to “Garibi Hatao,“, (Remove Poverty). This slogan had a considerable impact; Indira was now looked upon by many, as India’s saviour. Her election campaign was more energetic than it had ever been before., This was the backdrop of the ‘Garibi Hatao desh bachavo’ The slogan and the proposed antipoverty programmes that came with it were designed to reach out directly to the poor and, marginalised, by-passing the dominant rural castes. For their part, the previously voiceless poor
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to promote with special care, the educational, employment and economic interest of the, weaker sections of the people particularly the S C’s, S T’s and the O B C’s.“ In her speech, delivered at the Red Fort on 15th August, 1975, Indira warned, “Please do not expect magic, remedies and dramatic results, there is only one magic which can remove poverty, and that is, hard work, sustained by clear vision, iron will and the strictest discipline“, Twenty Point Programme, The Twenty Point Programme was launched by Indira Gandhi in 1975 and was subsequently, restructured in 1982 and again in 1986. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, in a radio broadcast,, announced measures to revive the economy through confiscation of properties owned by, smugglers, ceilings on ownership and possession of vacant land, and acquisition of excess land., Land ceiling laws would be strictly implemented and surplus land distributed among the rural, poor. The Twenty Point Programme included steps to bring down prices of essential, commodities,, The Twenty Point Programme consisted of the following:, 1.Attack on rural poverty, 2. Strategy for rained agriculture, 3. Better use of irrigation water, 4. Bigger harvest, 5. Enforcement of land reforms, 6. Special programmes for rural labour and bonded labour, 7. Clean drinking water, 8. Health for all, 9. Raising the income tax exemption limit from Rs. 6,000 to Rs. 8,000,, 10. Two child norm, 11. Justice for SC/ST, 12. Equality for women, 13. New opportunities for women, 14. Housing for the people, 15. Improvement for slums, 16. New strategy for forestry, 17. Protection of environment, 18. Concern for the consumer, 19. Energy for the villages, 20. A responsive administration, Emergency (26 June 1975), Factors leading to the Emergency Declaration, Crisis in the pre Emergency, In 1971, a total of 10 million refugees from Bangladesh ate refrigerated food. In addition, the, Bangladesh war of 1971 suffered from deficits in the balance sheet. In 1972 and 1973, there was
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a severe drought in the country. This resulted in a shortage of food items. Also, skyrocketing, prices have dragged on the injury. Setbacks in electricity generation, setbacks in industrial, production, rise in unemployment, Crude oil prices more than quadrupled in 1973, resulting in, skyrocketing prices of mineral oil and chemical fertilizers. Foreign money was flowing abroad, and there was a recession. Due to all these reasons, prices increased from 1972-73 per cent. 22, percent higher.. In 1973, in the conflict between the provincial armed police and the army in, Uttar Pradesh, around 35 police and soldiers were killed.. During the period of 1974-75,, jurisprudence and discipline were disrupted as movements, student protests and popular, demonstrations endured violent forms. Many school-colleges and universities had to lock the, door for a long period of time., As a result of this kind of weather, there has been a backlash in trade, unemployment, excessive, inflation, food shortages, and so on. This, of course, had a terrible effect on the poor and middle, class. Then there were movements for food all over the country. Mrs Indira Gandhi's popularity, began to decline. As such, a wave of anti-congress across the country was seen., Gujarat Unrest, Students in Gujarat started a movement to oppose the plight of the country. Later the, opposition also joined the movement. This is why. An atmosphere of anarchy was created in, Gujarati for 10 weeks. Morarji Desai initiates the death sentence. In the event of this dilemma,, Mrs. Indira Gandhi had dissolved the state legislature. In June, he announced the formation of, a new government with new elections., , The unrest of Bihar, The movement started in Bihar as well as in Gujarat. Jayaprakash Narayan, popularly known as, JP, was in charge of the Bihar movement. He called for the Total Revolution and the fight against, corruption. Also, the Congress government in Bihar started the fight, demanding the resignation, and the dissolution of the legislature., , Decree of the Allahabad High Court, Raj Naren's lawsuit filed in connection with the Allahabad High Court election was invalidated, by Justice Sinha on 12th June 1975 as a candidate for election through the corrupt path of Mrs, Indira Gandhi. Mrs Indira Gandhi refused to resign and filed an appeal to the Supreme Court., Supreme Court Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer was allowed to continue in office and participate in the, proceedings of Parliament until the final decree on 24 June 1975. However, it was said that Mrs, Indira Gandhi did not have the power to vote in Parliament.
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Gujarat state election result, Another backdrop for Mrs Indira Gandhi was the emergence of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly, on 13 June 1975, where the Congress won 87 seats for the 182-member Gujarat Legislative, Assembly., , Continuation of the JP movement, The judgment of the Allahabad Court and the results of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly gave, credence to the JP movement. Indira Gandhi resurrected her movement, demanding her, resignation from the Prime Minister's post on the left. Also, he called for a week-long nationwide, movement on June 25, 1975, demanding Indira Gandhi's resignation. He called for the denial of, the orders of the armed forces, the police force and the bureaucracy. To this end, the Emergency, was declared on June 26, 1975 under Article 352 of the Constitution of India. At the same time,, he said he would return to normalcy as the situation became known., Emergency enforcement, protest and government actions (consequences), Civil rights were abolished, The federal constitutional provisions, fundamental rights and civil liberties were abolished., Restriction on newspapers, Newspapers were subjected to strict censorship. This prevented protests and protests against, the government., Detention, On the morning of June 26, 1975, the anti-MISA (Maintenance of Internal Security Act) actio was, arrested. Among them is JP. Morarji Desai, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Chandrashekhar were, dissidents of the Congress. Academics, journalists, business leaders and student leaders were, thrown into prison. Over 100,000 people were detained during this time. The detainees included, anti-social elements such as burglars, stockpiles, wrestlers and goons., Religious, reactionary and left-wing organizations were banned., These organizations functioned with their original aim being to prevent violence and progress., Among them were Ananda Marg, RSSs, Mao CP (ML) and Jamaat-e-Islami covert organizations., These organizations defied secular, democratic and social values., Centralization of authority
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In the event of an emergency, the parliament was completely unaffordable. The state, governments were controlled by Indira Gandhi. The DMK in Tamil Nadu (Jan, 1976) and the, Janata Government in Gujarat (non-Congress governments) were dismissed. Democratic, elements in the Congress party have disappeared. In late 1976, the youth Congress led by Sanjay, Gandhi appeared to be more important than the Congress party. The Defense of India Act and, the MISA Act were amended in July 1975. Thereby the freedom of the citizens was destroyed., By amending the 42nd Amendment to the Constitution in 1976, a drastic change was made to, the original civil liberties structure. In addition, the government was involved in implementing, laws such as pro-poor land reforms. Thereby the fundamental rights were indirectly disabled., Violence was stopped, Prior to the implementation of the Emergency, in Gujarat and Bihar, there were several acts of, violence, with political parties exploiting student groups, the public and the authorities. They, committed acts of violence, such as looting homes, setting fire to homes, attacking MLAs and so, on. Some were assigned to do this kind of work. Opponents have resorted to this kind of Left, because they cannot dismantle the Congress party by alien route. As such, Indira Gandhi issued, a state of emergency. As a result, there has been a considerable amount of violence. Thus the, legal system was settled in the country., Contributed to national growth, Implementation enabled the spirit of dedication. Industry workers, scientists, technicians,, rulers, and others worked for the betterment of the country. As a result, the country's economy, has grown substantially. This strengthened the rupee's value., Action was taken against financial crimes, The black market was illegally stockpiling jaggery, intended to disrupt the country's economy., Also, if the authorities seized the illicit goods, the Students' Conflict Committee was attacking, the officer class and finding the grains. The commodities were openly advertised not to sell the, grains to the government, but to the government. Workers of the Railway Department took part, in the movement and were unable to adequately deliver food. This resulted in a shortage of, food. Enforcement of the Emergency was able to take stern action against those who commit, such crimes. This resulted in a significant reduction in material prices. In addition, the rate of, inflation began to decline., Birth control, Every family had to follow a family plan for birth control. In addition, a family could not have, more than two children. The government was intent on implementing Sanjay Gandhi's family, plan very aggressively. Government officials, school teachers and health department employees
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have been told that more people should be subjected to sterilization. Police Department to, implement this Had to cooperate., , After 19 months, the Emergency was abolished and all the detainees were released. As soon as, the Congress hated the Janata Parivar, Indira Gandhi's government came to power with an, overwhelming majority in the re-emergence of lack of coordination and responsiveness to the, problems of the people. Gandhi quickly earned a reputation for authoritarian leadership. She, was known as the Iron Lady of India because of her unbending views. She fired several highranking officials, but she also pushed for innovative and peaceful policies. Perhaps this is why, she once said, 'Whenever you take a step forward, you are bound to disturb something.'
