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October-November
1970
titanium metals which she exports to
nations around thc world, including the
U. S. A.
To exploit such natural blcssings,
India has embarked on a highly success–
ful industrialization program.
Take a look at sorne of the remark–
able results.
Burgeoning lndustry
India's economic growth ratc was a
fantastic
9
perrent
during Fiscal 1968.
The following ycar, growth stcadied at
3 pcrcent, but thc overall 20-year aver–
age of economic growth ( 1950-1970)
now stands at a creditable 3.5 percent
annual growth. That compounds to a
full
do11biing
of economic power in
those 20 years
!
India has become a land of atomic
power plants, hydroclcctric dams, steel
and texti le mi lls, automotivc assembly
lines, and various other industrial
plants. Indians are noted for producing
technically competent machinery, for
instance, the Mercedes Benz engines,
which are famous worldwide.
Chester Bowles, former
u.
S. Ambas–
sador to India, listed some amazing
industrial accomplishments of the 1950-
to-1970 "doubling" period. India's elec–
tric-power capacity multiplied
five times
between 1953 and 1969, and should
double again before 1975. The number
of acres under irrigation has tripled
(Jargely through the use of electric–
powered irrigation pumps, which have
increased prodigiously just sincc 1966).
In the social sphere, Ambassador
Bowles mentioncd that four times as
many youngsters now go to school as
compared to 1950 enrollment. Malaria
has bccn reduced from 100 million
cases (one fifth of the entire popu–
lation) annually clown to less than 50,-
000 in 1966, and the birth rate has been
reduced (albeit slightly) from 4.1 per–
cent annually to 3.9 pcrccnt, due to a
$200 million birth control program.
Despite such industrial growth, the
Indian planners realize much more is
needed just to reach minimum self-suf–
ficiency in a nation having 560 million
mouths to feed.
The Five-Year Plan, 1970-74
The fourth and
J
atest Five-Year
Development Plan was prcsented to
The
PLAIN TRUTH
37
Eventful History
A nc iently, as wday, India was a
1"1.
wealthy land - a land
of
abun–
danr natural resources - and
of
unlimired porenrial.
The ancient historian, Diodorus o f
Skily, nearly 2,000 years ago, spoke o f
India in very glowi ng rerms. India o f
that day was a largc, fertile and well–
watered land which yielded two crops
each year!
According to Diodorus, India pro–
duced an abundance of
food:
grains,
fruits, vegetables and livesrock.
lt
was
also known then, as today, for its very
rich
mineral resources:
gold, silver,
iron, copper and other minerals and
also its many
precious sto11es.
India produced such an abundance of
foodstuffs in the Ist cenrury B.C., Di<l–
dorus gave the following account: "This
is the reason, they say, why a famine
has never visited India ... there never
being any lack of food among them."
Britain's Accomplishments
in India
I n more modern times, India came to
be a part of the Brirish Comrnonwealth
of Nations.
Under British rule,
infantiride
was
outlawed,
sttttee
(suicide of a widow on
her husband's funeral pyre) was made
illegal. Briraín began spreading the
English language and culture. (The
English Janguage
is
India's window to
the world to this very day.) Under
Imperial British rule, 25,000 miles of
railways had been built by 1900, and 14
million acres of land had heen brought
under irrigation - the biggest irriga–
tino developmenr in the world. Britain
began establishing schools, colleges and
uoiversities in maoy parts of India.
The British established an efficienr
Indian Civil Service, organized a strong
army, builr many factories and hard–
surface roads, encouraged trade and
comrnerce.
Did Britain do as much as she
could have done with her trading
profits?
Most Indians would answer "no" ro
this quesrion ! But many in India free!y
acknowledge that
Britai11 did mucb
good
for the nation of India.
In most empires, che wealth of thc
local states is norma lly siphoned off to
rhe ruling Imperial Power. Brirish
rule in India was not enrirely an
exccption. Many Indíans and studenrs
of history will freely acknowledge that
Brirain's Imper ial rule over one quarter
of the h10d surface and peoples of this
earth was, when compared with most
empires, a very benign, wise rule. Brit–
ain did much ro build up her Imperia l
domains, ycr they are not blind to the
shortcomings of Imperial British rule.
Especially, Indiaos remember the days
when they were treated as inferiors by
their B ritish rulers. And no self-respect–
ing people wanrs
to
be looked down on.
While in New Delhi. our guide vol–
untarily commented that the British
were
good org<mizers
aod
admilris–
trators.
Nonetheless, he made it Yery clear
that he was happy to see India an
indepmde111
nation - governing her–
self. I am sure
most
Indians feel
precisely the same way.
Nehru Takes the Helm
When India did become iodepcodent
in t947, her firsr Prime Minisrer was a
very able man named Jawaharlal Nebru.
He, like Gandhi, had been educated in
England, where he saw parliamenrary
democracy at work firsthand. Even so,
Nehru was never fully persuaded that
the British system of parliamentary
democracy was best for India, evcn
though it seemed ro work fine for
Britain.
Prime Minister Nehru tried his very
bese to hclp lift India our of the "back–
ward age" into the "atomic age."
But like the Moslem Moguls and the
Imperial Bri tish Governors before him,
Prime Minister Nehru soon learned that
it is very difficulr ro change the deep–
seated social, cultural, religious and
política! ideas and cusroms of over four
hundred million lodians. He can1e to
sec that the road to real progress in
India would continue ro be a long,
hard, uphill climb all the way! This
has been true.
But as thc Indian people become
better educatcd and trained, their abili–
ties and their natural wealth could
undoubtedly transform them into one of
the world's wealthiest and happiest
peoples.