1.4 1947-1964

Nehru served as the prime minister of India for these 18 years consecutively. Nehru died in 1964.

2 Nehru's policies

2.1 Economic policy

Nehru was fascinated by Soviet Union's Piatiletka or 5-year plan and tried implementing the same for the Indian Economy. He wanted India to have the best combination of Socialism and Capitalism and tried to implement Democratic Socialism in India. He wanted the state to be a principal enterprenuer and all its citizens to be equal share holders. He strengthened the democratic pillars of nation immensely by creating proper wealth distribution systems at all levels.

Nehru's economic policies are often confused by critics with those of his daughter, Indira Gandhi, who was more left-wing. Nehru's economics of state intervention and investment were conceived at a time when transfers of capital and technology important to India were not easily forthcoming from the developed world (which incidentally also had plenty of state-sponsored capital controls.) Nehru is often criticised by ill-informed commentators of the present-day, when transfers of capital are unhindered, easily channelled by recipient nations, and even encouraged for their high returns in emerging markets.

The Soviet Union was the only major power to allow India to develop independent capabilities in many spheres of heavy industry, engineering, and cutting-edge technologies. India's combination of internal political freedom, economic and political independence throughout its existence can be favourably comapred with many client-states of the United States and the Soviet Union.

2.2 Institutional legacy

Nehru helped to create a country with enduring civic institutions, a strong socially responsive judiciary, a commitment civilian oversight of the army and overall egalitarianism.

Nehru's policies are credited with setting up India's infrastructure for scientific education, the Nuclear Programme, the Space Programme, the extensive Indian Railways network, and the Pharmaceutical Industry. It is to his considerable credit that he did not abuse this power and constantly attempted to deepen the democratic nature and institutions of the newly independent India. His charisma extended to the world stage where under his leadership, India was often able to be "punching above its weight." In his later years, he has been criticised by nationalists, both past and present, for not sufficiently confronting Pakistan and China in their differences with India. India's heavy defeat in the war with China seemed to bear out his critics, dimmed his public stature slightly, affecting him greatly as a person. He died shortly thereafter, having achieved so much but being found wanting.

2.3 Foreign policy

As prime minister, Nehru pursued a foreign policy of non-alignment and became a founder and leader of the Non-Aligned Movement. He pursued India's claim to Kashmir in the face of Pakistani opposition, resulting in the First Kashmir War (1947-49). Military defeat at the hands of the People's Republic of China in the Sino-Indian War in October 1962 brought strong criticism of military unpreparedness and Nehru's policy of friendship with India's mighty neighbour.

During the Cold War on November 27, 1946, Prime Minister Nehru appealed to the United States and the Soviet Union to end nuclear testing and to start nuclear disarmament, stating that such an action would "save humanity from the ultimate disaster."

2.4 Home affairs

Though professing distaste for armed force, under pressure his powerful authoritarian Home Minister, Sardar Patel used India's army to secure the territories of Hyderabad in September 1948 and later Portuguese-ruled Goa in December 1961.

3 Books written by Nehru

Nehru's letters to his daughter Indira during successive periods of imprisonment in 1930-34 were later compiled into a book called Glimpses of World History. His 1942-45 incarceration produced The Discovery of India. He has written his biography too, titled An Autobiography . All of Nehru's writings bear strong imprints of his intellectual and sensitive mind along with a poetic temperament. In a review of The Glimpses of World History, Tom Wrightington says that Indians can learn English not from Macaulay or Edward Gibbon, but from Nehru. Albert Einstein and Rabindranath Tagore have written letters, praising the content and Nehru's mastery over English and rhythm.

Nehru's famous Tryst with Destiny speech on the eve of Indian Independence is regarded as significant as the Gettysburg Address.

4 Post-Nehru era

His only daughter, Indira Gandhi, went on to become Prime Minister following the death of Nehru's immediate successor Lal Bahadur Shastri in January 1966. In an interview to an American magazine, "My legacy to India,” Nehru had said, “is hopefully 400 million people capable of governing themselves.” Many of the research and educational institutions established by Nehru now empower India to produce the second highest pool (after United States) of trained engineers and thus play an important role in software and other industires.

5 Trivia about Nehru

• Nehru had a golden bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi and a hand of Abraham Lincoln on his office desk.
• Nehru had written letters anonymously warning his colleagues not to give too many power temptations to Nehru, the prime minister, as it could lead to an autocracy.
• Nehru popularized the Nehru jacket.
• The Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital , Rose Belle , Mauritius was named after him.
• Nehru's birthday, November 14, is celebrated as Children's day in India.
• In 1951, Nehru opened the Salar Jung Museum to the public.

6 See also

• Nehru-Gandhi family

The name "Nehru" is derived from the hindi "Nehar" meaning canal. Nehru's grandfather engineered a canal in Kashhmir and lived next to it, and the family is named after this.

7 Further reading

• Shashi Tharoor (November 2003) Nehru: A BiographyArcade Books. BooksEnthsiast.com
• Jawaharlal Nehru (Edited by S. Gopal and Uma Iyengar) (July 2003) The Essential Writings of Jawaharlal Nehru Oxford University Press. BooksEnthsiast.com
• Autobiography, Toward freedom Oxford University Press
• A Tryst With Destiny historic speech made by Jawaharlal Nehru on August 14th, 1947. Speech in the Constituent Assembly of India, on the eve of India's Independence

Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru, Jawaharlal Indian freedom fighters Nehru, Jawaharlal Prime Ministers of India Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru, Jawaharlal Indian history

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