EDITORIAL NOTE

This publication is part of a project undertaken by the. Y.B.Chavan Pratishthan, Mumbai, to publish selected speeches of Shri. Y.B.Chavan in the Parliament. Two Volumes of speeches covering Chavan’s tenure as the Defence Minister of India and as the Union Home Minister were published in Volumes I and II. The present Volume III covers Chavan’s tenure as the Finance Minister of India, between June 26, 1970 to October 11, 1974.

Y.B.Chavan assumed office of the Finance Minister at a difficult period for India. In June 1970, there were strong inflationary trends pushing prices of essential commodities to high levels. The situation was further aggravated during the next two years because of failure of the monsoon. For three successive years acute drought conditions afflicted a large part of the country. A million refugees crossed over from the East Pakistan to India and providing for their succour and relief further strained the Indian economy.

Sections 1 and 2 of this Volume cover a selection of speeches dealing with complicated economic situation and various measures that the Finance Minister undertook to restore the economy to healthy growth. Chavan’s speeches show his deep understanding about the Indian economy and also his political savvy to put across his proposals to the Parliament. During his tenure, Chavan initiated measures of far-reaching significance to bring the entire field of insurance under public ownership. He also gave impetus to make the public sector banking a truly effective instrument of change and to re-orient the same towards the needs of the smallman and the weaker sections of the society. Likewise the concept of development banking was initiated and vigorously implemented. He undertook several measures to place the working of the management of the nationalised banks as well as the trade union movement in the banking sector on a proper footing.

Chavan’s speeches dealing with the banking and the general insurance provide very useful reference material. (Sections 3 and 4). Likewise his two speeches dealing with the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India laying down conditions of service, duties and powers are of historical significance for that high constitutional office. (Section 5). During the latter part of his tenure Chavan dealt with several taxation laws and undertook measures for maximum mobilisation of resources for defence efforts. He had also to deal with the crisis arising out of the United States decision to delink US dollar from the gold standard. These speeches and especially the one about his intervention in the debate on the ‘No Confidence Motion’ moved by the Opposition against Smt. Indira Gandhi’s Government in July 1974, show Chavan at his politically best, as a debater and as a forceful defender of the Government. (Section 5)

As in the earlier Volumes, I have selected those speeches which are of relevance and interest to the future. As far as possible, these have been reproduced with minimal editorial changes. However, as an Editor, I have taken the liberty to delete certain repetitive matters and long wordy duels that are part of Parliamentary debate. The selections have been compiled in different sections, each one under a subheading. I have also added brief Editorial Notes to each Section and also some Chapters to give a brief background and the context in which the debate took place.

January 1, 1999

R.D. PRADHAN