India Today published a special issue titled Remaking India, a compilation of articles from 1975 to 2025. This special issue inspired me go back to the earlier period from 1947, the first year of Indian independence, until 1975.
A very challenging period for India immediately after getting independence.
Among the many challenges the new government faced, one of the most serious was the shortage of food grains! India under the British had already experienced a famine in Bengal in the year 1943. It was not the first!
The new government retained the wartime controls introduced by the British, a network of fair price shops, to manage severe food deficits.
I remember the rice offered at the ration shop was awful. Quality of wheat was a little better! Though wheat was no substitute for rice, for us the South Indians! One could buy a better quality rice in the black market. It was not an option for many! My father was against buying rice in the black market on principle!
I also had heard that the ration shops switched the good quality rice, supplied by the government, with low quality cheap rice and made money! The system of Ration shops still exist! It is fascinating to read about it! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Distribution_System_(India)
Pandit Nehru government also sought to solve the problem through land reforms. The government gave ownership to those farmers who actually worked on the field! Hopefully the move succeeded in increasing the production of grains!
Implementing the land reforms was a complex contentious process. It was contested in the courts by the Zamindars. It lead to an amendment of the constitution and then supreme court supported the governments action. Nehru was successful in pushing through socialism!
In addition dams were built to irrigate lands. These efforts took time and meanwhile we became heavily dependent on food aid, particularly the US PL-480 program. It was indeed a precarious existence.
The states had the freedom to adopt the land reform laws independently to suit local conditions. When it was implemented in the Mysore state, quite a few known to us were affected. My Brother-in-law, who had inherited a few acres of fertile land asked me if I wanted to try agriculture and take care of his land. I was not too keen! I had not even stayed in a village!
I guess most of us understand that implementation is never fully what is intended and claimed. However, Laws are put in place.
Frankly, our countrymen need to come out of their feudal mentality. The resourceful landlords try and manage to control, possibly with the help of a few pliant bureaucrats and such! We, who believe in Karma, accept it!
https://time.com/archive/6886994/india-end-of-the-zammdars/
More importantly, our scientists stepped in and developed High-Yielding Variety seeds, especially for wheat and rice.
The Green revolution and the government subsidy. The intensive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, lead to food self-sufficiency by the early 1970s, eliminating the threat of famine. The states of Punjab, Haryana, and Western Uttar Pradesh did well. Remarkable recovery!
……….
However my focus as a mechanical engineer is on the Manufacturing Industry! While the broader picture is very impressive we need to study how well it was implemented!
Between 1947 and 1975, India’s manufacturing industry was defined by state-led import-substitution, industrialization and the mixed economy model. The government prioritized heavy, capital-intensive industries (like steel, machinery, and machine tools) through Public Sector Units (PSUs), while imposing strict regulatory controls on private enterprise and foreign investment.
- The Industrial Policy Resolutions (1948 & 1956)
- a socialistic pattern of society,... industries owned by the state,... progressively state-owned, and the private sector.
- The Industries (Development and Regulation) Act (1951): Created an elaborate "License Raj." Private companies required government permits to start production, expand capacity, or change what they manufacture!
- The Architect (Sri N. G. Iyengar): MEI was founded on February 13, 1945, by an influential engineer and entrepreneur, Sri N. G. Iyengar (Ayyangar). [1, 2]
- The Lineage: N. G. Iyengar belonged to a prominent family of builders in the region. His father, Dewan Bahadur N. N. Ayyangar, served as the Chief Engineer and Secretary to the Government of Mysore from 1934 to 1939 under the reign of Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV. [1]
- The Core Motive: Recognizing that post-WWII India would experience an explosion in electrical demand, Iyengar set up the company to locally manufacture heavy industrial switchgears, which previously had to be imported exclusively from Europe.
- Private to Public Shift: MEI operated highly successfully as a private joint-stock corporation for over three decades. However, to secure its financial future, align its manufacturing directly with national grid development, and protect thousands of jobs, the Government of Karnataka officially took over the enterprise in 1978. [1]
- PSU Transition: Post-1978, the company shifted its governance, transitioning into a State Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the Department of Energy. [1, 2]
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