Nehruvian socialism
Topic: Economic Planning in India: Goals, Models and Import Substitution · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Nehruvian socialism was the development model India followed after independence, shaped by Jawaharlal Nehru. It had four parts:
- Planning: the government set goals through Five Year Plans.
- A dominant public sector: government-owned firms ran key industries.
- Import substitution: India made at home the goods it used to buy from abroad.
- Parliamentary democracy: people kept their votes, rights and private property.
Its aim was a "socialist pattern of society". Nehru wanted "the best features of socialism without its drawbacks".
Example
The Second Plan (1956–61) set up public sector steel plants at Bhilai, Durgapur and Rourkela. Private firms could still work alongside them. The same thinking appears in the Directive Principles. Art. 39(b) and 39(c) ask that material resources serve the common good and that wealth is not concentrated in a few hands.
Don't confuse with
- Soviet-style socialism: there, the state owned every factory and farm and there was no private property. Nehruvian socialism kept private property and democracy.
- Capitalism (market economy): the market alone decides what is produced and who gets it. Nehru rejected this because it would leave most people without a chance to improve their lives.