With the growth of the public sector in Indian industry in the interest of the country’s Five-Year Plans, and the consequent progressive diminution of the private sector, controversy has naturally arisen over their merits and demerits. The Prime Minister has practically thrown his powerful weight on the side of the public sector, almost in the belief that it is a necessary corrollary of socialism. It may be mentioned here in passing that the British Labour Party, the leading exponent of socialism in the world, is having second thoughts on the necessity of nationalisation of some industries, which was taken for granted only a few years ago. Socialism in India is a mere imitation of British and European socialism and has not produced any outstanding socialist, barring perhaps the late Acharya Narendra Dev.
Prime Minister Nehru is in a class by himself and can afford to lay down the law even on socialism by dwelling on the necessity of adapting it to Indian conditions, while socialists listen with open-mouthed astonishment as if Indian conditions as well as socialism were entirely beyond the scope of their intelligence.These are the circumstances under which the controversy is developing. Democracy demands continuous debate on every issue before the country, and it is no respecter of persons. In the firm belief that, if not today then tomorrow, reason and commonsense will prevail over dogmatic ipse dixits each one of us must in the interest of the country thrash out the pros and cons of this, perhaps the greatest, problem facing the country. If the growth of the public sector is demonstrably in the interest of the country, then obviously nothing should or can be allowed to stand in its way. But is it?
