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A LEADER WHO BELIEVED IN LEAVING NO ONE BEHIND

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 12/2/2020 11:52:13 AM

EDUARDO FALEIRO Recently, we commemorated the birth anniversary of the late Indira Gandhi, who has so far remained the only woman Prime Minister of India. She was considered the most popular leader of the masses of Independent India especially among the weaker sections of society. The Congress Party during Indira Gandhi’s tenure coined the slogan “Garibi hatao (eradicate poverty)” and she led the efforts for the amendment to the Preamble of the Constitution to include the words, “Socialist, Secular and Democratic Republic of India.” In furtherance of these concepts, her Government implemented the 20-point programme. Its basic objective was to eradicate poverty and to improve the quality of life of the poor and the weaker sections of society. It included removal of rural poverty, health, education and housing for all, justice for Scheduled Caste (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) and equality for women. Indira Gandhi nationalised private sector banks and turned them into the most gigantic public sector banking system in the world, which gave people loans for selfemployment. I happened to be involved in the implementation of the 20-Point Programme when I was Union Minister of State for Finance. The banks were instructed to provide loans to the poor and weaker sections of society who wanted to open some small business. As a result, millions across the country got those small loans for setting up their own ventures. The rate of repayment of those loans was as good, if not better, than the repayment of large loans taken by big firms. For the benefit of the people, the number of bank branches was increased substantially, too. In Goa, we had branches of the State Bank of India (SBI) and of a couple of other banks in the main towns but not in the villages. During my tenure, in the process of implementation of the 20-Point Programme, branches of different banks were opened in practically every village of our State. Similar steps were taken in all States across India. Indira Gandhi was much criticised for imposing the Emergency in 1975 which lasted for 21 months. To my mind, Emergency was thought to be necessary at that time in view of the moves of the Opposition to destabilise the Government and the country. The Emergency was imposed on the advice of Sanjay Gandhi and Siddhartha Shankar Ray. Much of the criticism of the Emergency was on account of the Family Planning programme, which was implemented in North India sometimes in a drastic and brutal manner. Sometime later, Indira Gandhi herself felt that imposition of the Emergency had been a mistake. In Goa itself, Emergency proved to be beneficial. “Trains are running on time” was then a national slogan and in Goa the Administration became more efficient, black marketing and hoarding stopped and food and other articles of general consumption were easily available, which was not the case earlier. The support of the Goan people to the Government of India during Emergency benefitted the Congress Party, which went on to win the Lok Sabha seat of South Goa. This was the first-ever election victory of the Congress Party in Goa. Until then, the Congress had not won a single seat either in Parliament, in the Assembly or even at the municipality level. In the general elections held in 1977, Indira Gandhi lost her Lok Sabha seat from Rae Barelli but immediately thereafter in 1978 she won a byelection from the Chikmagalur constituency. In November 1978, the Janata Party brought in a motion to expel Indira Gandhi from Parliament. My party, the Congress (U), supported this motion of the ruling party. However, I personally could not support it. I felt that I had won the Lok Sabha election in the name of Indira. I met Yashwantrao Chavan, who was the leader of the Congress (U) in Parliament. Chavan permitted me to oppose the motion. During the debate, while my party supported the motion, I strongly opposed it. Indira Gandhi was in the Lok Sabha during the debate and apparently she never forgot my support to her on that day. In 1980, I was the only candidate in the whole country belonging to the Congress (U) who was also supported by the Congress (I). After Liberation, there were two opposite points of view on the status of Goa, Daman and Diu. In the first four Assembly elections, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) obtained a significant victory and formed the Government. The MGP wanted the merger of Goa into Maharashtra on the grounds that Goa identified culturally and in many other ways with Maharashtra. The United Goans Party (UGP) as well as the Congress held that Goa should not merge with Maharashtra. The MGP wanted the matter to be decided by voting on the floor of the Assembly. This was strongly opposed by the UGP and the Congress. Thereafter, during the premiership of Indira Gandhi an opinion poll (referendum) was held for Goa. This was the first and so far the only one ever held in the country. It went against the demand for the merger. Thereafter, the Congress and the UGP demanded statehood for Goa. My first speech in the Lok Sabha echoed that demand for statehood. However, Morarji Desai, then Prime Minister, was not in favour of small States. In 1980, Indira Gandhi returned as Prime Minister and I moved a Bill seeking statehood for Goa. Rajiv Gandhi, then General Secretary of the Congress Party, met me and promised that statehood would be granted to Goa. True to his word, statehood was granted to us in the next term of the Lok Sabha during the premiership of Rajiv Gandhi himself. It was obtained due to the efforts of then Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane, my colleague in the Lok Sabha Shantaram Naik and other leaders of the Congress and the MGP’s Pankar. The MGP brought a resolution demanding Statehood for Goa. While replying to the debate, Shashikala Kakodkar, then Chief Minister said, “In the early years after Liberation, the MGP stood for merger with Maharashtra and fought for it through the opinion poll in a democratic way. The verdict of the poll went against the merger.