Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Why Forward Bloc - Subhas Bose

Indian National Congress was born from the soil of India as a 'historical necessity' and the growth and development of the organisation took place as the result of 'its inner urge'. Similarly an inner urge and historical necessities led to the birth of Forward Bloc. Neither personal factors nor accidental circumstances is responsible for its birth. He put forward the Hegelian Theory of Thesis, antithesis and synthesis for the birth of the new phenomenon. He discarded the necessity of 'Unity at all cost' he agreed that sometimes it so happened that the left gathers strength from the right but in a different circumstances left wing has to move of its own.
Gandhiites of 1920 was the left wing of the Congress now it had lost its leftism. During 1936 and 1938 left wing had grown and was moving with the right wing, Gandhiites, upto 1939, but it was not possible to move together. The right wing had cut off the relation with the left wing for their existence.
Hence the Forward Bloc is not only the product of an inner urge but also a historical necessity.
  1. Subhash Chandra resigned from Congress President Ship on 29 April 1939. On 3 May 1939, he declared the formation of Forward Bloc.
  2. On 22 June 1939 was held the All India Session in Mumbai where the Constitution and programme of Forward Bloc was adopted.
  3. First All India Conference of Forward bloc was held in Nagpur, from 18 to 22 June 1940. In his Presidential Address, Subhash Chandra gave a concrete plan of action for winning Puma Swaraj or complete freedom in the immediate future. The conference resolved that, in order to win independence for India, and in order to preserve it, as soon as possible the following steps be taken :
    • The struggle launched at Ramgarh (March 1940) be intensified locally and further widened in its scope under the slogan 'All Power to Indian People'.
    • Steps are taken to promote and develop national unity on as many fronts and in as many directions as possible.
    • Measures are adopted for forming Panchayat in every locality, beginning from the village right up to the center, to function as organs of struggle and later on as organs of administration.
  4. It was 17 January 1941, dead of night, that the 'Great Escape' of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose from India opened a new chapter of the political history of the country. Forward Bloc leaders and workers came under sharp torture and humiliation of the British police and its intelligence. A huge number of them were put to jails and confinements. And Forward Bloc was declared banned on 23 June 1942.
.
Leaders of the Forward Bloc and Left Consolidation Committee.
In early July, 1939, Bose announced the personnel of the Forward Bloc Working Committee. It included ;
1. Subhas Bose - President
2. Sardar Sardulsingh Caveeshar (Punjab), - Vice-President. 3. Lal Shankarlal (Delhi) - General secretary, 4. Pandit Viswamabhar tripathi, 5. and K.F.Nariman (Bombay), Secretaries, 6. other Prominent members ; Mr.Annapurnia (Andhra), 7. Danapati Bapat, 8. and H.V.Kamath (Bombay)
In the Bengal Provincial forward Bloc , Satya Ranjan Baksi, long time confident of Bose, was appointed Secretary.  
Past leaders of AIFB
General Secretary : Hari Vishnu Kamat (1940)
President : Sardar Sardul Singh Kaveesher (1947)
General Secretary : Sheel Bhadra Yajee (1947)
General Secretary : K.N.Joglekar (1948)
General Secretary : R.S.Ruikar (1948)
President : General Mohan Singh (1952)
General Secretary : G.S. Dhilan (1952)
President : Hemanta Kr. Basu (1955)
Vice President : U. Pasumpon Mathuramalingam Thevar (1955)
General Secretary : R.K.Haldulkar (1955)
President : Mukhia Thevar (1979)
General Secretary : Chitta Basu (1979)
President : P.D. Paliwal (1984)
President : A.R.Perumal (1991)
President : Ayyanam Ambalam (1998)
President : D. D. Shastri (2001)
" i observed that the ......Socialists and Communist friends with whom this matter was discussed after the Haripura Congress agreedwith this view . It was generally felt that all progressive and , radical and anti Imperialist elements in the Congress , who might not be ready to join the Socialist or Communist Party, should be organised on the basis of a Common minimum programme . I felt , further, that only by that means could the onslaught of the rightist be resisted and the soil prepared for the growth of a Marxist Party." Subhas wrote in the editorial of Forward Bloc on 12.8.1039.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Reactions of Gandhi and Subhas after latter's resignation

Gandhi also commented that Socialists also did not support Bose in the line of issuing ultimatum to the British. He went on the differences between ' me and the socialists are wide known ... but socialists are coming nearer to me every day' and of Nehru ; " there are certainly differences between Jawaharlal and me . But they are not significant. Without him I feel myself a crippled. he also feels more or less the same way.. Our hearts are one...."
Gandhi wondered whether any group or any one supported Bose in his call for ultimatum. He said that the Gandhians, Socialists, and Nehru were not with him. Bose won the election but in the question of
leadership in All India mass movement the majority choice is for Gandhi.  
Subhas Bose and those closely associated with him had suffered a major setback. But as Gandhi was later to say of Bose , was 'irrepressible ' .

Within a week of his resignation as Congress President , Bose announced Calcutta on May 3 the formation of another grouping within the Congress to be called the 'Forward Bloc'. He said that the object was to rally all the radical and anti-imperialist progressive elements in the country on the basis of a minimum programme , representing the greatest common agreement among radicals of all shades of opinions. While he formed the Forward Bloc , he thought that all the Socialists, communists, Royists, Kisan Sabha etc would join this bloc.
RabindranathTagore's Message To Netaji on his on his resignation ;
The dignity and forbearance which you have shown in the midst of a most aggravating situation has won my admiration and confidence in your leadership . The same perfect decorum has still to be maintained by Bengal for the sake of her own self-respect and thereby to help to turn your apparent defeat into a permanent victory.

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Before and after resignation from Congress President in AICC meeting-1939


Subhas Bose exchanged letters and telegrams with both Gandhiji and Nehruji which started on 24th March 1939 and ended in May estimated about 50 in number without any positive outcome.
Among the leftists M.N.Roy wanted Bose to go ahead and form a left Workng Committee. ultimately Roy said that a Roman general who won't take advice was not worth fighting for.
CSP was in turmoil and some members, particularly, in the small Bengal cadreof the party , resigned. Tridib Chaudhury and others eventually formed the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) , Hiren Mukherjee, a young Communist member of the CSP , ill at the time of the Tripuri Congress , sent a telegram to J.P.Narayan congratulating him for the victory of Subhas Bose and their support to him.
Sharp criticism was made by ex-revolutionaries running news paper Forward, founded by C.R.Das and offered advice to  Bose to put on  the Working Committee. They further continued;
" But Subhas Babu having revolted for nothing other than the Presidentship ,carried a blank mind as far as a plan or a programme was concerned....When asked why he was not acting in this situation , he replied that his supporters were 'shaking in their shoes' ..."
Although Bose insisted that ninety percent of the left was still with him but they are not organised to replace the old leadership and carry on the Congress on their shoulder. Nehru was correct in this respect.
Near the fag end of the negotiations , just before the AICC was to convene in Calcutta on April 29, 1939, Bose and Nehru met. They had They had some nasty ex-changes and ultimately came to a point that only Gandhi would have been able to resolve the conflict. Gandhi also met with Bose just before the AICC conclave but nothing was resolved.
In the AICC meeting held in May 1939, Bose described his inability , under the present circumstances , to work out a compromise formula with Gandhi and laid a letter to this effect from Gandhi before the assembly . Then he tendered his resignation, saying , in part,
" Mahatmaji's advice to me is that I should myself form a working committee leaving out the members , who resigned from the previous working committee..... If I formed such a committee I would not be able to respect to you that the Committee commanded his implicit confidence.
...My own conviction is that in view of the crucial times that are ahead of us in India and abroad , we should have a composite cabinet commanding the confidence of the largest number of Congress possible...I could only repeat my request that he should kindly shoulder the responsibility vested in him by the Tripuri Congress.
At a last step , I tried my best to arrive at an informal solution of the above problem , as Mahatmaji told me, to sit together with the prominent members of the previous Working Committeeand myself ..but that to yielded no result.
Bose did not really want to resign and others particularly left were not happy with this result.
Now Nehru who all aling had been arguing privately with Gandhi and others for a compromise arrangement offered a motion calling for Bose to withdraw his resignation . Nehru suggested that the working Committee from the previous year should be renamed and the slot of two members shortly to resign because of ill health should be filled by Bose's chaice. In contrast to Gandhi , Nehru maintained that ....there is no difference between Mr. subhas Bose and Mahatma Gandhi on any issue involving principles '. like Rajaji , Nehru did not want 'to change horses in mid-stream.' but in the group Nehru wished to retain , congress President elect .Bose, was included Rafi ahmed Kidwai and Jayprakash Narayan rose to support Nehru's motion.the meeting was then adjourned for the day.
The following day , Bose said that he was honoured that Nehru had asked him not to resign, but wanted a greater consideration for his views about a composite Working committee than he found in Nehru's proposal. He did not withdraw his resignation, but made it clear that he did not want to resign if he could work with a more representative Working Committee. Leaving the matter he said in the hands of the AICC, he sat down. The chairperson  of the meeting , Sarojini Naidu, an experienced Congress leader and former President , found Bose's statement too vague. Also feeling that there had not been a clear response to his motion , Nehru withdrew it. Naidu now pushed the gathering to elect a President. Niharendu Duttamajumdar, and K.F.Nariman objected, but she overrode them and the AICC elected Rajendra Prasad to finish the presidential term until the next full Congress session.
The new president named the Working committee, as Bose and Nehru declined to serve , he filled their position with Dr, B,C,roy and Prafulla chandra Ghosh, Bengal Congressmen. The latter was pure Khadi Gandhian and the former was once close to Bose ,now he became close to Gandhi. Electing two non Bose men from Bengal in the Working Committee were another slap at the Boses.
Later in a question answer session of Gandhi Seva Sangh Gandhi pointed out that there were fundamental difference in principle with Bose.
Ultimately resignation of Subhas Bose was accdepted and Rajedra Prasad became the next President.  The main contributors towards his resignation were Mahatma Gandhi, Pant's resolution, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sarojini Naidu who hammered the last nail in the coffin of this episode.  
The main problem was Subhas was fully charged with Violence and also to use violence, observed Gandhi.
  

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Bose in Jealgora , Dhanbad,Bihar (contd-1)[correspondence with jawaharlal Nehru]

The letters written Jawaharlal Nehru were in a different manner, for Bose claimed that he had been respectful to Nehru in the past;
" ...ever since I came out of internment in 1937 , I have been treating you with the utmost regard and consideration , in private life and in public. I have looked upon you as 'politically an elder brother' and a teacher and have often sought your advice. When you came back from Europe last year, I went to Allahabad to ask you what lead you would give us."
But when the crucial moment had come and Bose decided to challenge the Gandhians at the end of 1938, he found his socialist colleague , his political elder brother was not with him.
Nehru explained his stand of not supporting Subhas was;
"I was against your standing for election for two major reasons. " 1.He did not want to go against Gandhi,  The left was not strong enough to shoulder the burden by itself  because, to his opinion , most of them are adventurist in the technical political sense. 2. that in international affairs he (Subhas) hold different views regarding Nazi government or fascist.
He also felt that Bose did not have any definite program, his leftism was rather vague. Nehru said that Bose had not charged and  some of Bose's actions made him  realise that how difficult to  work with him.
Nehru wanted a compromise between Bose and the Gandhians his main concern was to avoid a split between the two factions
In a long letter dated March 28, 1939 to Nehru Bose opened his mind
" for some time past you have become completely biased against me...since the Presidential election, you have done more to lower me in the estimation of the public than all the twelve members  of Working Committee put together. Of course if I am such a villain , it is not only your right but also your duty to expose me before the public."  
However Bose agreed that in international matters he hold different views in the National interest. He cited the example of other countries including Russia who made a pact with the Imperialist British as well as Germany (non-aggression pact) for their national interest, then where lies the harm if he takes as 'enemies enemy is our friend". He also pointed out that Nehru wanted to offer asylum to Jewish refugees.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Bose in Jealgora, Near Dhanbad, Bihar -1939 [correspondence with Gandhi]

( jealgora,Near Dhanbad, Bihar)
Bose went into seclusion with relatives at Jealgora, near Dhanbad in Bihar to try to recover his health. He spent more than a month there to shake off his 'strange illness - it was a severe influenza. Some pundits, including their family  Pundit  Asoke nath shastri and some astrologers knowing tantra-Mantra also came. Bose himself was dubious since he believed that he had a rationalistic mind. But friends pressed amulets on him to help fight the illness. He wrote;
"...In amoment of weakness, I yielded and  accepted a couple of rings, and four amulets." But after some time he relieved of the two rings and four amulets.
While in Jealgora he corresponded heavily with Jawahar Lal, Mahatma and others. sarat Bose also wrote number of letters to gandhi and Jawaharlal to remove the crisis due to Pant's resolution. Bose wrote to Gandhi in a very polite manner. He wrote;
" People who are bitterly opposed for various reasons to Sadar Patel and his group, still believe that you can take a dispassionate and non-prtisan view of things . To them you are a national figure - above the parties and groups - and you can therefore restore unity between the warring elements.. If for any reason the confidence is shaken ...and you are regarded as a partisan, then God help us and the Congress."
Bose had correspondence with Gandhi from 24th March to 6thgot reply from Gandhi, either by letter or by Telegram from Birla house , Delhi. Bose wrote 24 times to Gandhi requesting him to intervene to remove the stalemate condition aabout formation of Working Committee due to Pant's resolution.
Subhas wanted permission to release their correspondence which was accorded by Gandhi. Hence Subhas released his correspondence with Bapuji consisting of  44 pages ( pages 126 to 170) in the book Cross Roads published by Asia Publishing House, In which Bose written letters or sent telegram numbering 24 and in reply to that Gandhiji issued letters or sent telegrams numbering 19.
These correspondences did not yield any result. The intention of Gandhiji was expressed in the letter written by Gandhiji from Birla House , New Delhi, dated 2nd April 1939 which said;
"The views you express seem to me to be so diametrically opposed to those of the others and my own that I do not see any possibility any possibility of bridging them. I think that each school of thought should be able to put forth its views before the country without any mixture. . And if this is honestly done , I do not see why there should be any bitterness ending in civil war."
                                                          

Tripuri Session -1939

The Congress Session for 1939 was held in Tripuri, a small village in the District Jabalpur of Madhyapradesh (formerly, Central Province), openning on March 10. The session was a somber occasion for,
1. There was the dilemma of choosing a new working committee,
2. International grave situation, and
3. Subhas was seriously ill since last February
Ignoring Doctors advice and with a dangerously high fever , a temperature of 104* F, he was taken by ambulance, to attend the session, with his niece Ila Bose as nurse, and attended by Dr. and Mrs. Sunil Boseand his mother, from his Elgin Road house to Howrah station.
Gandhi , however, decided not to come to Tripuri, insisting that activities in the princely state of Rajkot where a more important claim on him at the moment. The Gandhians were there with a formidable group where as Bose's support was soft and and not well organised . The crucial conflict was with the Pant resolution which states ;
In view of various misunderstandings that have arisen in the Congress and the country on account of the controversies in connection with the Presidential election and after, it is desirable that the congress should clarify the position and declares its general policy,
1. This Congress declares its firm adherence to the fundamental policies which have governed its programme in the past years under the guidance of Mahatma Gandhi and is definitely of opinion that there should be be no break in these policies and and they should continue to Govern the Congress programme in future. This Congress expresses its confidence in the work of the Working Committee which functioned during the last year and regrets any aspersions should have been cast against any of its members .
2. In view of the critical situation that may develop ....Gandhi alone can lead the Congress and the country in victory during such a crisis , the Congress regards  it as imperative that the Congress executive should command his implicit confidence and requests the president to nominate the Working Committee in accordance with the swishes of Gandhiji.      
Bose supporters , principally those from the left , offered amendments and asked that the resolution be postponed because off his ill health . Gandhians would have none of this.They were set on a test of strength.
The largest group was that of CSP of which the leader was Jayaprakash Narayan was not in favour of an ultimatum to the British as he was of same opinion as that of Gandhi. They were socialist as Nehru but was not in favour of a mass movement without the leadership of Gandhi. They remained neutarl and their neutrality on the Pant resolution was a normal blow. The CPI group within the CSP wanted to vote against the resolution.
All the amendments failed by a margin of about 218 by 135.
In the open session , there was some rowdiness and Nehru was heckled while speaking and Sarat Bose had to quiet the crowd. In the Marxist terminology , 'National unity before class unity'.
Now he had no option other than to form a Working Committee in accordance with the wishes of Gandhiji..  

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Gandhi vs Subhas Bose

Subhas won  defeating Sitaramayya, Gandhi's nominee, in 1939, Tripuri Congress  President election by 1, 580 votes against 1,375 which came as a surprise to Mahatma Gandhi and his closest colleagues. The leftists throughout India backed Bose. This was the high watermark of their unity in the twentieth century. Bose also had considerable support from some regions of India, e.g. , The Punjab, his own province, anti-Sitaramayya area as Taminadu, and some impatience with the Gandhian high-command in other areas. Gandhi issued a hostile and self-accusatory statement from Bordoli two days after;
"I must confess that from the very beginning I was decidedly against his re-election....I was instrumental in inducing Dr. Pattabhi not to withdraw..... the defeat is more mine than this....After all Subhas Babu is not an enemy of his country".
So far, Gandhi had maintained since he came to the fore in Indian politics after the first World War, that executive bodies had to be homogeneous . Now it was sign of strength of Subhas and he had to form his own working committee.
In response to Gandhi's hostile statement Bose did not express the bitterness he felt about Gandhi's words, rather he said;
" I do not know what opinion Mahatmaji has of me. But whatever his view may be , it will always be my aim and object to try and win his confidence for the simple reason that it will be tragic thing for me  if I succeed in winning the confidence of other people but fail to win the confidence of India's greatest man."
Bose met with Gandhi on February 15 and returned empty hand. Moreover, J.B.Kripalani told him,
 " living in a fool's paradise".
M.N.Roy, leader of the League of Radical suggested a homogeneous Working Committee with all the leftists with himself as General Secretary and asked him to assert himself to give a new leadership. But to Bose leftists were disorganised and occasionally irresponsible. Bose took Jawaharlal as a crucial person who wrote, " I decided to devote energies towards bridging the gulf between the old leaders and the new socialist group.  
To teach Bose a good lesson , on Feb 22, 1939, 12 Working Committee members except the Boses and seemingly including leftist Jawahar lal Nehru, resigned. Jawahar Lal Nehru gave a separate resignation letter. The resignation letter came in reply to a request made by Subhas, due to his illness,  written to Sardar Patel to postpone the Working Committee meeting, scheduled to be held on 22. February at Wardha
Bose wanted Gandhi's intervention but the resignations from the Working Committee were the first indication to Bose what this was to mean.

Saturday, April 18, 2015

The Tripuri Presidential Election Debate -1939

The first statement of Subhas Bose - January 21, 1939.
Referring to the present situation after withdrawal of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Subhas Bose reiterated  that the progressive sharpening of the anti-imperialist struggle in India that had given birth to new ideas, ideologies, problems, and programmes people were consequently veering round to the opinion that as in other free countries the presidential election in India should be fought on the basis of definite problems and programmes so that the contest may help the clarification of issues and give a clear indication of the working of the public mind. An election contest may not be an undesirable one.
Explaining the reasons why he was going to participate in the election was that he had not been requested by any delegated to withdraw his candidature, rather he had been nominated as a candidate by different provinces without his knowledge or consent  and that he had been receiving pressing requests from Socialists as  well as Nationalists from different parts of the country urging him not to retire. Over and above this there seems to be a general feeling that he should be allowed to serve in office for another  term.
 He gave assurance to fulfill any responsibility cast on him.

Exchanges of Telegrams between Vallavbhai Patel and Sarat Chandra Bose, members of Working committee - 24th January, 1939
1) From Patel to Bose
Patel asked Bose to to request Subhas to avoid re-elction and allow Dr. Pattabhi to take the office without dividing Congress and enphasised that It was not not Subhas but the Working  Committee of the Congress to settle on the issue of Federation.
2) From Bose to Patel,
Bose mentioning the seriousness of the situation asked Patel not to allow division between the left-wings  and right-wings of the Congress and pointed out that in this situation Dr. Pattabhi would not be able to inspire country's confidence
3) From Patel to Bose
It was not the question of division but the question of principles and expressed his hope that election might be held without any bitterness and imputation of motives if the re-election coukd not be avoided.
The Statement of Vallavbhai Patel , Rajendra Prasad, Jairamdas, Daulatram, J.B.Kripalani, Jamnalal Bajaj, Shankar Rao Deo, and Bhulabhai Desai - all members of the All India Congress Working Committee - January 24, 1939
Having read the statement issued by Subhas Bose with care as it deserved they noticed that Subhas Babu was going to set up a new precedent which he had right to do. We could have waited for greater consolidation of the Congress ranks , greater toleration and greater respect for one another's opinions before making the Congress Presidential election a matter of contest. Mentioning the points referred by Subhas Bose they stressed that the Congress policy and Programmes were not determined by the successive Presidents whose duty was as a Chairman. Considering all such points they said that Dr. Pattabhi was the fittest person as the President this time.

Second Statement of Subhas Chandra Bose - January 25, 1939.  
Mentioning his unwillingness to participate in the debate of the Congress Presidential election - 1939 and to make it a public issue he mentioned the cause of his previous statement (21.1.1939) as the forced reply of the statement  issued by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad . This time he was again forced by  a statement issued jointly by the members holding the responsible posts of Congress Working Committee. He was taking this statement as individual one for the sake of fairness of the posts of the Congress Working Committee He mentioned that the Congress President was a matter of election by the delegates and not to be nominated by any or many  members.
Remindinding every body he said since the adoption of the new constitution of the Congress in 1934, the Working Committee is being nominated, theoretically at least, by the President.  Since that year the Position of the Congress President has been raised. It is , therefore, new conventions should grow up around the Congress President and its election.The position of the President today is longer analogous to that of the Chairman of a meeting. The President is like the prime Minister or President of the united States of America who nominates his own cabinet. Since then a leftist has been elected as Congress President by the support of both the leftists and rightists.The attempt to deviate from the the practice this year and to set up a Rightist Candidate is not without significance. He expressed his intention  that he requested his friends to choose another leftist candidate as president this time , but several provinces have proposed my name . Even at this late  hour I am prepared to withdraw from the contest if a genuine anti-federationist, like Acharya Narendra deo, for instance, be accepted as the President this year. Under these circumstances the presidential election is part of our fight against the federal scheme and as such we cannot afford to be indifferent to it.....
The following persons participated in the debate and issued their statements on the respective dates clarifying reasons of withdrawal of Subhas Chandra Bose to allow Dr. Pattabhi Sitaramyya uncontested.
1. Pattabhi Sitaramayya on 25 January, 1939,
2. Vallavbhai Patel on 25 January, 1939, from Bordoli
3. Jawahar Lal Nehru on 26 January, 1939, from  Almorah,
4. Rajendra Prasad on 27 January, 1939 from Patna
Subhas Chandra replied to all the points raised by them in his third  statement on 27 January, 1939.
He put stress specially to the statement issued by Dr. Pattabhi and Sardar Patel.
Replying on the point raised by them that 'a unanimous desire of the people of South India in general and Andhra in particular that the next President should be an Andharaite, Subhas Chandra said that it is difficult to believe that Congressmen in any part of India think in terms of Provincialism.Moreover, ' I have before me at the present moment telegrams from Andhradesa voluntarily assuring me of support. And so far as Tamil-Nad is concerned, friends there are among those who are most insistent that I should not withdraw from the contest.'  
      Answering to a point raised by Sadar Patel, he pointed out that his (Sardar Patel) statement contain ' a rather damaging' confession which says that 'some members of the working Committee held an important consultation among themselves and came to a certain decision' , ' is it not surprising that neither the President nor other members of the working committee knew any thing of this?'
The  fourth and last statement issued, 28January, 1939, by Subhas Chandra reiterated justification of his candidature.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

National Planning Commission of India

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was the original thinker of Planning Commissionin India.

History

Rudimentary economic planning, deriving from the sovereign authority of the state, was first initiated in India in 1938 by Congress President Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, who had been persuaded by Meghnad Saha to set up a National Planning Committee. The British Raj also formally established a planning board that functioned from 1944 to 1946. Industrialists and economists independently formulated at least three development plans in 1944. Some scholars have argued that the introduction of planning as an instrument was intended to transcend the ideological divisions between Gandhi and Nehru.[5] Other scholars have argued that the Planning Commission as a central agency in the context of plural democracy in India needs to carry out more functions than rudimentary economic planning.[6]
After India gained independence, a formal model of planning was adopted, and accordingly the Planning Commission, reporting directly to the Prime Minister of India was established on 15 March 1950, with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as the Chairman. Authority for creation of the Planning Commission was not derived from the Constitution of India or statute; it is an arm of the central Government of India.
The first Five-Year Plan was launched in 1951, focusing mainly on development of the agricultural sector. Two subsequent Five-Year Plans were formulated before 1965, when there was a break because of the Indo-Pakistan conflict. Two successive years of drought, devaluation of the currency, a general rise in prices and erosion of resources disrupted the planning process and after three Annual Plans between 1966 and 1969, the fourth Five-Year Plan was started in 1969.
The Eighth Plan could not take off in 1990 due to the fast changing political situation at the Center, and the years 1990–91 and 1991–92 were treated as Annual Plans. The Eighth Plan was finally launched in 1992 after the initiation of structural adjustment policies.
For the first eight Plans the emphasis was on a growing public sector with massive investments in basic and heavy industries, but since the launch of the Ninth Plan in 1997, the emphasis on the public sector has become less pronounced and the current thinking on planning in the country, in general, is that it should increasingly be of an indicative nature.
In 2014, the Central Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to wind down the Planning Commission. It was proposed to replace it with a more dynamic organisation that is more popular and connected to the times. There have been various perspectives discussed across the spectrum of the Indian intelligentsia about this move. It has been chiefly viewed as a cultivation of Modi's extreme hatreds towards Nehru and his socialism. Prime Minister Modi has launched a discussion board on Twitter to solicit opinions from the people of the country on what should replace the Planning Commission.

Organisation

The composition of the Commission has undergone considerable changes since its initiation. With the Prime Minister as the ex officio Chairman, the committee has a nominated Deputy Chairman, who is given the rank of a full Cabinet Minister. Presently the post of vice Chairman is Arvind Panagariya. Cabinet Ministers with certain important portfolios act as ex officio members of the Commission, while the full-time members are experts of various fields like economics, industry, science and general administration.
Present ex officio members of the Commission, are the Finance Minister, Agriculture Minister, Home Minister, Health Minister, Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister, Information Technology Minister, Law Minister, HRD Minister and Minister of State for Planning.[7]
The Commission works through its various divisions, of which there are two kinds:
  • General Planning Divisions
  • Programme Administration Divisions
The majority of the experts in the Commission are economists, making the Commission the biggest employer of the Indian Economic Service.

Functions

The Planning Commission's functions as outlined by the Government's 1950 resolution are following:
  1. To make an assessment of the material, capital and human resources of the country, including technical personnel, and investigate the possibilities of augmenting those are related resources which are found to be deficient in relation to the nation's requirement.
  2. To formulate a plan for the most effective and balanced utilisation of country's resources.
  3. To define the stages, on the basis of priority, in which the plan should be carried out and propose the allocation of resources for the due completion of each stage.
  4. To indicate the factors that tend to retard economic development.
  5. To determine the conditions which need to be established for the successful execution of the plan within the incumbent socio-political situation of the country.
  6. To determine the nature of the machinery required for securing the successful implementation of each stage of the plan in all its aspects.
  7. To appraise from time to time the progress achieved in the execution of each stage of the plan and also recommend the adjustments of policy and measures which are deemed important vis-a-vis a successful implementation of the plan.
  8. To make necessary recommendations from time to time regarding those things which are deemed necessary for facilitating the execution of these functions. Such recommendations can be related to the prevailing economic conditions, current policies, measures or development programmes. They can even be given out in response to some specific problems referred to the commission by the central or the state governments.
From a highly centralised planning system, the Indian economy is gradually moving towards indicative planning where the Planning Commission concerns itself with the building of a long-term strategic vision of the future and decide on priorities of nation. It works out sectoral targets and provides promotional stimulus to the economy to grow in the desired direction. It also plays an integrative role in the development of a holistic approach to the policy formulation in critical areas of human and economic development. In the social sector, schemes that require co-ordination and synthesis like rural health, drinking water, rural energy needs, literacy and environment protection have yet to be subjected to coordinated policy formulation. It has led to multiplicity of agencies. The commission has now been trying to formulate an integrated approach to deal with this issue. The Planning Commission has asked the States to hike the power tariff to save the ailing power sector. It also called upon the States to utilise the power subsidy for improvement to essential services like drinking water supply, education and health for promoting inclusive growth.
Inauguration speech at the first meeting of the All India National Planning Committee at Bombayon December 17, 1938.

In the beginning of his speech Subhas Chandra Bose , the Congress President , outlined the Industrial possibilities of the country and emphasized the need for the industrial regeneration of the country.
He said there are three types Industry;
1. Cottage or small scale Industry,
2. Medium Scale Industry and
3. Large scale Industry
He emphasized the necessities of producing mother industries, because they they aim at producing the means of production.
He cited examples of Japan to medium scale industries such as , bicycles, fountain pens,toys etc. He said that in handloom industry we can revive silk industry of our country.
The planning commission will have to tackle specific problemsi.e, power industry, metal industry, heavy chemicals, machinery and tools, and communication industries like railway, telegraph,telephone and radio etc.He pointed out India's backwardness  in production of electricity ; at present India commands only seven units per head, a backward country like Mexico has ninety-six units per head, and Japan about five hundreds unit per head.

An Interview with R.Palme.Dutt-24.1.1938


This is a synopsis of the report of an interview with R.Palme. Dutt published in the  Daily Worker , London, January 24, 1938.
In reply to a question of office acceptance, Subhas Bose said that the acceptance of office is only for two reasons;
1. To consolidate its own position,
2. to demonstrate that within the conditions of the present system it is not possible to achieve anything really big or substantial.
In reply to a question about his idea of fascism Subhas Bose said that his political ideas had further developed since he wrote the book , The Indian Struggle. What he meant in his statement of "synthesis between Communism and Fascism", was that fascism had not started on its imperial expedition it appeared to him as merely an aggressive form of nationalism.He further explained that Communism as it appeared to him as anti-national but now he was quite satisfied that nationalism had no contradiction with Communism.

Haripura Session of Congress - Feb 1938

Haripura is a village located near Kadod town in the Surat district of GujaratIndia. It is around 13 kilometres north east of Bardoli. During the Indian independence movement, it was the venue of annual session of the Indian National Congress in 1938, referred as the 'Haripura Session'
A description of the decorum to welcome Subhas Chandra Bose, newly elected President of Indian national Congress, a prestigious position in India at that time.
Haripura,being the 51st Congress session 51 ornamental gates were erected , 51 Congress flags were hoisted, and the President was taken in a procession seated in a chariot drawn by 51 white bullocks to the accompaniment of 51 brass bands . More than 4,000 workers and 7,000 volunteers had laboured for weeks to construct the pandal . The exhibition halls, the bamboo huts for residence of the delegates, and special kitchens were arranged.      

The full context of the address, given at Haripura Session,  was published in the book, 'Cross Roads" compiled by Netaji Research Bureau, Calcutta containing the works and lectures of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Sisir Kumar Bose mentioned in the Preface referring the words of Tagore
 address

that the year 1938 began for Netaji with a ojourn in Europe followed closely by assumption of the office of Congress President .
 This address was extended to 28 pages of the book touching all the relevant points of the present political  situation and the future programme to be taken by the  Congress.He answered  to the question , asked by himself, 'can the British Empire trnsform itself into a federation of free nations with one bold step, ' This transformation will be possible only if the British people become free in their own homes  - only if Great Britain becomes a Socialist state. To maintain the nture of their 'divide and rule' policy, an internal partion is necessary in order to neutralise the transference of power.He didn't forget to mention the remedy of the minority question in India.and suggested that 'apolicy of live and let live in matters of religios and an understanding in matters economic and political should be our objective.For future programme he suggested that after the capture of political power national reconstruction takes place in socialistic lines.as thre are haves and hvenots within the Indian masses.
Differing from those who think to wither away the Congress Party after freedom is won, he said that the party wins freedom for India should also take the responsibility of reconstruction of their country.He also mentioned the lines of reconstruction in Independent India.Land reforms, eradication of poverty and illiteracy. Regarding economic development he referred a comprehensive scheme of industrial development under state ownership and state control. He stressed the need to form a planning commission. 
He mentioned the budget of the cenral Government for the year 1937-38. In total outlay of Rs 77.90 crores an amount of Rs. 44.61 croes was alloted for military purposesi.i.e.,57% of the total expenditure.
he concluded his speech by saying ," India freed means humanity saved.  
  

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Subhas Bose (1937- 1938) [contd-4]


(Jivatram Bhagwandas Kripalani, popularly known as Kripalani, was an Indian politician, noted particularly for holding the presidency of the Indian National Congress during the transfer of power in 1947)
On Jan. 18, 1938, Acharya J.B.Kripalani , general secretary of the Indian National Congress, announced in India that Bose had been elected president of the fifty-first session of the Congress, to be held at Haripura at Gujrat.
Gandhi sent a Telegram to Bose, which read in part, 'God give you strength to bear the weight of Jawahar Lal's mantle'.
Gandhi's favourite left-wing son had been Congress president for the past two years while the right wing controlled the Working Committee and the Congress organisation.He had thought to make him under his control Bose arrived in Calcutta on Jan 24. He had been two months abroad.
Subhas Bose arrived at Bardoli in a special train and was received by Sardar Patel.. Then he was taken to Haripura by a car. Villagers garlanded him as he passed Haripura. According to report of his journey;
 His presidential address was the lengthiest and most important speech he gave during his career.
He analysed Capitalism and Imperialism quoted by Lenin. He advocated socialism and not communism. He said;
He showed that how British used their policy 'divide and rule' in Ireland, in Palestine, and were trying to extend it even in India. The federal provisions to be fiercely opposedand the Communal Award condemned. He insisted;
The idea of Planning Commission - modeled on  that of the Soviet Unionand other European nationnswas one pet idea Bose put forward in this speech.
Before he finished he turned to the international context;
At this session the Congress voted to to condemn Japanese aggression in Chinaand to call upon the public boycott Japanese goods and it criticised fascist aggression in Europe. this resolution condemned;
Bose had no alternative other than to accept a Gandhian frame work withinwhich he had to operate.
At Haripura Gandhiji sent instruction
 to Sardar Patel;
One thing Bose insisted to form a Planning Commission under the Chairman 
of Jawaharlal, a socialist. Bose wanted. The work of the National Planning Committee which you entrusted to me ,
Bose formulated the following principles
Another arena in which he supported his high command brethren was in the relationship to the all India Muslim leagueand to Mr. Jinnah. Since the break down in the 1920s of the 1916 Lucknau Pact, the relations of the Congress and the Muslim league had followed a generally uncooperative and unfortunate course . Bose like many in the leadership in the Congress had long opposed separate electorates for Muslims, though this had been part of the bargain at Lucjnau during the first World War Bose argued that 'joint electorates is the basis of democracy'. Bose had to resume the correspondence of thd Congress  president with the president of the Muslim Leaguethat had been carried on with Mr. Jinnah since 1935. On Aug 2, 1938, Jinnah wrote to Bose;
A number of desultory letters followed between th two organisation, menifesting a fundamental lack of communication. 
At the December  meeting of the working Committee . on useful purpoae was served. Bose wrote in part, 
Nirad C. Chaudhury commented on Bose;
Sarat Bose wrote to Congress President Nehru  how to change the direction of affairs in Bengal;Subhas Bose 
When Subhas Bose pressed Gandhi for a Congress coalition in Bengal, Gandhi wrote to him on Dec 18, 1938;

Subhas Bose replied at length in his blunt manner, telling Gandhi, in part

During the mid- and the late -1930s , Subhas Bose surely was the most prominent India spokesman to advocate , using the international situation to India's advantage . In March 1938, he wrote to Jawaharlal Nehru
Rash Behari Bose said;



Subhas Bose (1937- 1938) [contd-3]


Among many other story of their marriage, Krishna Bose, a family member, wrote in the Illustrated Weekly of India in 1972, 
Emilie Schenkl says, that marriage between Germans and Foreigners was 
The other biographers have written that Bose and Miss Schenkl were married in 1942, while Krishna  Bose , implying 1941, leaves the date ambiguous .But the actual testimony comes from A.C.N.Nambiar who  l;ived with the couple in Badgestein briefly in 1937 and was them with Berlin during the war as Second-in-Command to Bose in an answer to a question he wrote,

It was certain that Bose had a tie to Emilie Schenkl starting from 1934 and that they were seen later in 1943 and Anita was born on 29 Nov 1942 in Vienna.They lived together in Berlin from 1941 to 1943, and we have a letter from Bose to his brother (Sarat Bose) that Emilie Schenkl was his wife and Anita was their daughter and Emilie Schenkl produced the testimony of their marriage in Dec 1937.
By Dec 1937, when Bose was in Badgetein a war was already underway in East Asia following the Japanese attack on China.Bose always spoke for Indian freedom;
The following eight days of his stay in Bitain in 1938 were a whirl of meetings, receptions and dinners with leaders of the National Govt. , Leaders of the Labour Party, and the British left intellectualsand the Indian community in Britain. On Jan, 1938 Bose spoke at a reeeption in his honour at Saint Pancras Town Hall, presided over by R.Palme Dutt, with many from the from the Indian Community and also the British left in attendance, Bose said,
In a report of the Communist Daily Worker , Bose is said to have linked India's National struggle with efforts by peoples all over the world against fascism and reaction , and stressed the Indian support for tyhe Chinese in their war with Japan,
On this occasion and on many others Bose advocated some kind of Socialist system for free India..The former Govt. of Bengal Lord Zetland, Bose had a friendly talk with Zetland., 
He was Governor of Bengal between 1917 and 1922 ageorge lansburyndSecretary of State for India between 1937 and 1940. Although a member of the Conservative Party, his belief was that Indians should be allowed to take ever-increasing responsibility for the government of the country, culminating in Dominion status (enjoyed by CanadaAustralia, and other formally self-governing parts of the British Empire)
On Jan 17, 1938, Bose met Lord Zetland the former Governor of Bengal and present secretary of State for India. Zetland too wanted to know Bose's view of Communism.;
'....he said that the actual number of genuine Communist was small. He  wa himself a socialist, but thyat was a very different thing from being a Communist.'
Bose was soft spoken durin his interview with the VIPs of Great vBritain ' During this time he met  the following per;sons in Great Britain


Monday, April 6, 2015

Subhas Chandra ( 1937-38) [contd-2]

After his five months in Dalhousie , Subhas bose was in better health, but not fully fit. He came back to Calcutta in early Oct. and went on to Sarat's house in Kurseong. Nehru was concerned with Muslims objection to the song 'Bande Mataram' from Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's novel Ananda Math , and widely used as a nationalist anthem.It was a Bengali, Hindu song which the Muslim league said the Congress was foisting it as a national anthem in callous disregard of the feelings of Muslims. Following Bose's advice Nehru discuss the matter with  Rabindranath Tagore . later a song of Tagore's  which was translated in Hindi and used as the National Anthem.
Subhas had an extraordinary busy days.
With N.G.Ranga  on th chair, Subhas spoke to a rally of 10,000 kisans and Kisan organisers in Shraddhananda Park on Oct 27, Subhas also presided over a meeting of the Provincial Trade Union Congress held in Calcutta.
Subhas used to live in his father's house, 38/2 Elgin Road but he used his brother's house at Woodburn Park or his garden house at Rishra for meeting guests.
On Nov 18, 1937, he left on a KLM plane for Europe.
After landing at the Naples airport, Bose, according to his account , was harassed and thoroughly searched and corresponded with him about arranging a secret interview with Mussolini during his return trip from Europe to India late in January.  From Naples , Bose made his way by train to Badgastein , a spa in th mountains with a bracing climateand medicinal bath waters . He wrote of it in the Indian press in Dec.
The atmosphere of this mountain town and the radio active , warm, mineral watershad a positive effect on his health.
He asked Emilie Schenkl to join him in Badgastein and help him a writing project on which he had set his mind. , an autobiography , to be called an Indian Pilgrim.During a ten-day period in Badgestein , Bose wrote out a good part of the planned manuscript in long hand.  
 He was accustomed with self-analysis and a reader of Freud.During his stay in Badgestein with Emilie Schenkl for writing his manuscript, in Dec. 1937 he married Emilie Schenkl  secretly. Bose placed t he development of love at the center of human life.
Bivabati, Sisir Kumar, Anita, Sarat Chandra (Sitting), Roma, Emilie and Chitra (Standing) at Vienna (November 1948)
Daughter Anita and Emilie at Vienna (November 1948)


A.C.N Nambiar, Heddy Fulop-Miller, Subhas Bose, Emilie and Amiya Nath Bose at Badgastein
He says in a note, 'As I have gradually  turned from a purely spiritual ideal to a life of social service , my views on sex have undergone transformation.'
It is also worthwhile to note, that in advice to younger friends and relations in 1937 and 1938 , he advocated free choice in marriage , rather than arranged marriage by the parents of the prospective couple.