Sri C. Rajagopalachari, popularly known as Rajaji, was a far-sighted thinker in India and hailed by Mahatma Gandhi as his conscience keeper. He was born on 10th December 1878 and passed away on 25th December 1972.
Apart from serving India as a freedom fighter during the pre-independence days and as the first Governor-General of India, Rajaji contributed significantly to the progress of post-independence India in multiple ways.
When Jawaharlal Nehru genuinely believed in and advocated socialism as the ideal strategy to empower India economically and socially, he strongly pursued policies to promote public sector enterprises, even at the cost of the private sector. In the process, Nehru introduced several permit and licensing procedures to regulate private sector growth. However, Rajaji raised his voice against such policy approaches.
Rajaji termed Nehru’s concept of socialism, partly derived from communist philosophy, as counterproductive and argued that it would destroy the individual initiative of entrepreneurs. He pointed out that, given human nature, any planned policy measure that disregarded the profit motive of individuals would amount to planning in a vacuum. In other words, Rajaji emphasised that encouraging free enterprise on a large scale and recognising the appropriateness—and ethical validity—of profit motive was the only way to spur industrial, economic, and social growth in India at the pace needed.
Rajaji disagreed with the interpretation held by some proponents of socialism that capitalism, by encouraging private enterprises, would benefit the private sector at the nation’s expense.
Certainly, Rajaji never opposed government investment in public sector enterprises where absolutely necessary. However, he firmly believed that the government’s role was to govern, not to do business.
It is also worth noting that Rajaji frequently stressed the importance of ethical management and fair play in free enterprise, pointing out that such fairness was essential for both public and private enterprises.
It took over fifty years after the passing of Rajaji and Nehru for India to fully realise the merits of Rajaji’s vision and advocacy for promoting free enterprise.
After decades of experimenting with socialism and recognising its inadequacies, Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao initiated economic reforms in 1991, opening up the economy and acknowledging the importance of encouraging free enterprise. This period marked the beginning of India’s economic transformation and significant progress.
Today, the Prime Minister has launched the Start-Up India scheme, which embodies the principles Rajaji championed. The primary objective of this initiative is to encourage individual initiative and promote entrepreneurship in a free enterprise environment. The scheme has captured the imagination of the country, with over 125,000 registered start-ups reported currently.
Given the alignment between Rajaji’s long-term vision and the present goals of the Start-Up India mission, it would be fitting to commemorate Rajaji’s birth anniversary on 10th December each year as Start-Up India Day. This would mirror how we celebrate Nehru’s birthday as Children’s Day, Dr Radhakrishnan’s birthday as Teachers’ Day, and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s birthday as National Unity Day.
While the Prime Minister has declared 16th January as Start-Up India Day, declaring 10th December—Rajaji’s birthday—as Start-Up India Day instead would be an appropriate and meaningful tribute to his contributions as a far-sighted thinker who refined the nation’s understanding of the importance of free enterprise.
