President Dr.S.Radhakrishnan spoke on 27th may 1964 on the death of this great man ,’’Jawaharlal Nehru was one of the greatest figures of our generation ,an outstanding statesman whose service to the cause of human freedom are unforgettable .As a fighter for freedom he was illustrious ,as a maker of modern India his services were unparalled . His life and work have had profound influence on our mental make –up, social structure and intellectual development .It will be difficult to reconcile ourselves to the image of India without Nehru’s active and all –pervasive leadership. ’’Nehru laid the strong foundations of parliamentary democracy ,secularism, social justice ,non alignment and above all self-reliant India .Such was Nehru’s faith in science that long before the freedom of the country he had said ,’’Politics led me to economics and this led me inevitably to science and the scientific approach to all our problems and to life itself .It was science alone that could solve these problems of hunger and poverty ,insanitation and illiteracy ,superstitions and deadening custom and tradition ,of vast resources running to waste of a rich country inhabited by starving people .’’In 2938 Nehru spoke to the National; Academy of Science ,Allahabad .’’We have vast problems to face and solve .
They will not be solved by politicians alone ,for they may not have the vision or expert knowledge ,they will not be solved by scientists alone ,for they will not have the power to do so or the larger outlook which takes everything in its kin .They can and will be solved by the cooperation of the two ‘’Thus the significant part that science and modern technology could play in the development of the nation was realized by the congress under Nehru long before freedom .What is even more remarkable is that even in the midst of the freedom for political freedom ,the analytical mind of Nehru did not lose sight of the preparation and planning essential to solve the multifarious problems the country will face after independence. It was at his initiative that the congress set up ,in 1939 ,a National Planning Committee and thereby invited leading scientists in the formulation of plans for scientific ,technological and economic development of the country .As a part of effort to promote self –sustaining scientific and technological growth ,the foundation stone of India’s first national laboratory ,the National Physical Laboratory , was laid on 4th January 1947.
Thus Nehru planned and executed the scientific ,technological and economic as well as the political development and made economic progress and growth possible for India .The contribution of Nehru to economic development can be reproduced as follows-1—Nehru contributed to the development of national philosophy or national ideology .He was of the firm view that India can be hold together by developing the national ideology thus by giving a sense of direction and coherence .He was of the view that such a national philosophy is more important for India where there is great diversity and whose people are divided on religious ,ethnic ,linguistic And other basis economically underdeveloped ,socially static and politically inexperienced.2-For Nehru national unity or what he called national integration was sine qua non of national development thus he gave topmost attention ton national unity and made concerted efforts in this regard.3:- Nehru gave much importance to parliamentary democracy and this was the second national goal .He was convinced that India needed a democratic India needed a democratic form of government not only because latter respected the individual and was inherently desirable but also because a diverse ,vast and divided country could not be held together in any other form .Nehru knew that parliamentary democracy depend for its success on strong and united opposition and hence he encouraged and respected the strong opposition in the country.4-Industrilasition one of the components of his national ideology and so he gave utmost importance to the development of not only cottage industry but to the large scale industries unlike Gandhi .For Nehru industry not agriculture was the lever of economic development .
So he gave much attention to the opening And development of industries in the country and laid a strong foundation of industrialization for transformation and development of the economy.5- For Nehru socialistic method explained phenomena no other method could .For Nehru socialism was not a just an economic doctrine nor a just form of social organization but a new civilization based on radically transformed humanity.6- Nehru gave topmost importance to the cultivation of scientific temper ,culture or approach to life .Fostering national and empirical ways of thought and life was the gift of Nehru to India along with the development of science and technology.7-Nehru vigorously pleaded for secular state but in his view secularism was complex and vague .
He gave much importance to secular ethos and thought while governing the country.8—Nehru insisted that India should follow an independent foreign policy and so he followed the policy of non alignment in international matters and for a long time he was himself the foreign minister of India .Besides the above Nehru gave much importance to public sector ,population control socialism ,price control .deficit financing ,importance to technical education and technicians ,women’s progress ,rural development as he thought real India lives in villages ,Land reforms ,employment generation, education ,nationalism ,non violence ,mixed economy .planning ,perspective planning ,institutional reforms and ,use of foreign capital, .Indeed Nehru did much for the country as he laid the strong economic ,political and scientific foundations on which today’s political masters are erecting the superstructures of the country’s development .and therefore his opposition pales into insignificance before his tremendous national work of restructuring and reconstructing India.( Concluded)

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