LEADERSHIP WITH ETHICS 

Context

About 

• Lal Bahadur Shastri was sworn in as the PM on June 9, 1964.
• Even though he held the office just for 581 days till January 11, 1966, when he passed away in Tashkent.
• He is always remembered for his stellar contribution to the good of the country.
• Shastri's leadership was laden with values and ethics.

Early life

• Right from the beginning till the very end of his life, he demonstrated to every Indian how to practice simplicity and morality in both letter and spirit, in personal and public life.
• We have heard the story that as a schoolboy, Shastri would swim across the Ganges twice a day with his books tied on top of his head.
• He did not have enough money to take a ferry to school.
• The life of Shastri is full of incidents that make him a role model for many citizens of India.
• But these anecdotes only make sense if we contextualise them in terms of values and ethics.
• Knowing about this true leader is not just relevant for any examination but every true citizen and leader making.

A true leader displays a progressive attitude from the very beginning

• Shastri was born Lal Bahadur Shrivastava to Ramsulari Devi and Sharada Prasad Shrivastava.
• However, being against the prevailing caste system, he decided to drop his surname.
• The title 'Shastri' was given after he completed his graduation at Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi in 1925.
• The title 'Shastri' refers to a 'scholar' or a person, adept in the holy scriptures.
• Shastri in this way showed a broad outlook at a very young age.
• His progressive attitude came to force when he asked for Khadi cloth and a spinning wheel as dowry.

A true leader leads from the front in adverse situations and does not shy away from accountability.

• Lal Bahadur Shastri, the third Prime Minister of India, was one of the giants in public life, who always took the country's myriad responsibilities on his shoulders.
• During adverse situations too, he came forward, made himself accountable and showed the signs of a true leader-one who leads from the front.
• After the sudden demise of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Shashtri took the oath of office.
• Despite being relatively new to the high office, he led the country successfully through the Indo-Pakistan War in 1965.

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Resigned to his Ministry 

• Shastri was at times critical of his government, but when it came to taking responsibility he always led from the front.
• He served as the Railway Minister in Jawaharlal Nehru's Cabinet and was so conscientious that he resigned following a train accident at Ariyalur in Tamil Nadu in 1956.
• His gesture was hailed by all including Nehru, whom he considered his hero.
• Nehru then told Parliament that he was accepting Shastri's resignation because it would set an example in constitutional propriety and not because the latter was in any way responsible for the train mishap.

A true leader takes criticism constructively, knows the loopholes and accepts the shortcomings

• When the Opposition brought a motion of no-Confidence against his government in September 1964, Shastri candidly accepted its successes and failures.
• During his reply to this motion in the Lok Sabha on September 18, 1964, when then Praja Socialist Party leader JB Kriplani suggested to the Treasury Bench members that they should use Nehru's name "sparingly to justify their conduct" Shastri said: "We will try to work on our own as far as possible. we do not want to drag in the name of Pandit Jawaharlalji for covering our lapses and inefficiencies. We will never do that. We must own the entire responsibility for what we do".

Criticising his government 

• In the course of this debate, Shastri did not spare his government, criticising the lack of coordination between different departments.
• Citing the instance of the water-logging problem in Punjab, Shastri said, "I am merely expressing the view of an expert or a great engineer; he has said that because of the canals which have been constructed during the last few years and some of the bridges of the railways or the culverts of the railways and also because of some roads which have been built, many areas have been affected and because there is no coordination between different departments, the water-logging persists or it has resulted in continued water-logging.

Taking responsibility 

• He went on to say, " I am sorry I am critical of the government or the administration, but I can with my own experience say that no department is prepared to shoulder the responsibility.
• If you mention it to the Railways, they say we have nothing to do with it; the bridges or the culverts were built a long time back.
• If you go to the transport ministry, they will say ' well, the roads are all right, and therefore, there should be no problem'.
• If you refer to the irrigation department, of course, they are a law unto themselves".

Accepts the shortcomings

A true leader speaks through his actions

• On August 15, 1947, he became the Minister of Police and Transport. It was during his tenure that the first women bus conductors were appointed.
• He was the one who suggested the use of jets of water instead of lathis to disperse unruly crowds.

• Reputed for his soft-spoken nature and clean image, he is said to have practised severe austerity measures at home before applying them for the country's benefit.
• In 1965, India was embroiled in a war with Pakistan and the country was facing an acute food shortage.
• There was added pressure with the United States threatening to cut supplies. 
• Faced with the crisis, Lal Bahadur Shastri announced to his family one evening that for the next few days they would all give up on their evening meal.
• Kal se EK hafte tak sham ko chulha Nahin jalega (From tomorrow we would not cook in the evenings for a week)" she said adding that the kids would get only milk and fruits, while the adults will stay hungry. 
• It is only after he was sure that his own family could survive without a meal a day that he announced on All India Radio, urging the public to sacrifice one meal at least once a week.
• For the next few weeks, all restaurants and eateries strictly followed the rule.

A true leader's public and private lives are inseparable

Car loan from Bank 

• It is said that when he was the Prime Minister, his family asked him to buy a car. The Fiat car he bought was for Rs 12, 000.
• Since he had only Rs 7, 000 in his bank account, he applied for a bank loan of Rs 5, 000 from Punjab National Bank.
• The car is today kept at the Shastri Memorial in New Delhi.

Deposited money to the Government 

• It is said that he had a Chevrolet Impala car for official use, Which his son once used for a drive. 
• When Shastri learned about it, he asked his driver to check the distance the car was used for and later deposited the money in the government account.

Returning 10 rupees from pension 

• Being a part of the freedom movement landed up him in Jail quite often. When Shastri was completing his term in prison, his wife received a pension of Rs 50 every month.
• Once, when his wife visited him in jail and told him that she was able to save Rs 10 from the pension, he got annoyed and asked the servants of People's Society to cut down his pension and give that Rs 10 to some needy family.

Reversed undue promotion to his son

No assets at the time of death 

As a Home Minister 

• Once while Shastri was still the home minister of India, he had to catch a flight to Delhi from Calcutta.
• The flight was in the evening and the rush hour traffic had made it practically impossible for Shastri to reach the airport on time.
• Subsequently, the commissioner of police decided to send a car with a siren ahead of Shastri's vehicle to clear out the road. 
• However, Shastri firmly refused because it would make the people of Calcutta feel that some important person was out on their streets.