A Forerunner of Economic Reform

 Not many seem to know that Shastri tried to decentralise governance by moving decision - making on projects from the Planning Commission to the ministries dealing with economic subjects . Indeed , there was an attempt to reduce the dominance of the Planning Commission by the setting up of a national planning council .

 In 1965 , Shastri announced in Parliament that there would be a reconsideration of government controls over the economic activities ; consequently , there was a relaxation in regulations for some sectors , such as steel and cement . Shastri's economic team comprised people like L.K. Jha , I.G. Patel , Dharma Vira and S. Bhoothalingam who were tilted towards reforming the economy through modernising agriculture and allowing more private sector freedom .

 Even the decision to devalue the rupee was taken in principle by Shastri though the actual step was implemented by Indira Gandhi . Unfortunately , Shastri died before effective steps could be taken in all the fields . If he had lived longer , it is possible , as P.N. Dhar says , that Shastri might have pursued " an agenda of economic reform of the kind that was taken up only twenty - five years later " ( under the prime ministership of Narasimha Rao ) .

 The slogan that he gave India during the war with Pakistan aptly reflected his view : " Jai Jawan Jai Kisan " showed Shastri's firm belief that the security of the nation upheld by the soldier was closely linked with food security . food production that was the farmer's forte .

 The slogan implied that the farmers ' work on the field was equivalent to the soldier's action on the battlefield in the service of the nation .