Publisher's Synopsis
Part of the Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru series, this volume includes lectures, writings, letters, speeches, and other literary works of Nehru from1 April to 30 June 1958. The first section mainly deals with how Nehru exhorted the nation to increase productivity and emphasized the role of the community development programme in nation building since the country was faced with shortage of both foreign exchange and food. The second discusses national progress which he envisioned to be in the direction of socialism. The third segment reflects Nehru's concern on the issues of governance. He was quite distressed by casteism, communalism, and the growth of petty politics leading to his announcement on 29 April 1958 of his intention to retire from Prime Ministership. The next two parts deal with defence and parliamentary affairs respectively. The following chapter studies the Indian National Congress. The state of Kashmir form the basis of section seven. In Kashmir, the re-arrest of Sheikh Abdullah made Nehru unhappy but he supported the decision of the state government to proceed against Abdullah. The next focuses on external affairs which was rather worrisome and devoted to India's relationship with Pakistan. Rejecting third-party meditation on Kashmir, Nehru set out the Indian position in negotiations with Pakistan. Towards the end the volume discusses issues like Nehru's interaction with the press; his letters to the chief ministers, and some miscellaneous information.
