Bhagwan Sahay’s Address
Bhagwan Sahay was born on February 15, 1905. He served as Chief Commissioner of Himachal Pradesh and was the Lt Governor of the state from August 14, 1963 to February 25, 1966. He later served as the Governor of Jammu & Kashmir from 1967 to 1973. He also served as an ambassador to Nepal, and was the Chief Commissioner for Kerala and Bhopal. Sahay was awarded the Padam Bhushan in 1961. He passed away on December 06, 1986. The following address by the Lt Governor is historical because under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, Himachal lost its legislature, and it was not until 1963 that the democratic setup was finally restored.
(Translated from Hindi)
It is my personal pleasure to deliver the Inaugural address of the first session of the new Legislative Assembly of Himachal Pradesh. Twelve years ago, I was the Chief Commissioner here and the first election was held during my tenure. But a few days before the Cabinet came to power, I went from here to Bhopal and had the good fortune of running the state affairs for almost three years with the cabinet there. I left but the attraction of this heavenly state and its beautiful, truthful, and honest residents remained in my heart and mind. I used to read and listen to the news from here with great interest. I used to feel happy to hear that Himachal Pradesh is progressing in many sectors and I used to feel sad to hear that democracy was suspended in the nick of time. I had the picture of the first election in my mind â with what enthusiasm and excitement men and women from the mountains had come to cast their votes after crossing rivers and streams! They were so excited and enthusiastic to participate in electing their representative. There are always difficulties in the functioning of democracy, but whenever they arise, they should be corrected and one should not be afraid of them. No system of governance can replace democracy. No matter how much progress is made in other sectors, it does not satisfy the common man, as the desire to take part and responsibility in the running of one’s society is natural and very strong in a man’s heart. Therefore, in the atmosphere of independence, no other type of governance can give complete satisfaction. Therefore, I think that it is a matter of great fortune that the spoiled situation has been set right again and the government elected by the people has been given the responsibility of governing its state again today.
Man is the master of his own destiny, because the human form is based on action. Therefore, we have to make our destiny such through our actions that it improves our. If we ourselves do something that leads to instability in the popular government, then it is natural for the future to be bleak. The people of Himachal have elected their representatives who have formed a new Cabinet. Now the responsibility of shaping the fate of your state lies in your and your Cabinet’s hands.
In a democratic system, there is always conflict in political ideologies but when the question of welfare of the society arises, then this discrimination should be overcome and the welfare of the country should be the main objective. The world has a living example of the parliamentary tradition of the government of England. There are many kinds of verbal tussles in their Legislative Assembly but ultimately when the question of welfare of the country arises, then the cooperation of every member is obtained. I am confident that your Cabinet and the members of the Legislative Assembly will fully nurture all the parts of your state, and you will have such power that you will always remain a unit, and the thought of merging it should never come to anyone’s mind. This is not just a hollow political question. Clearly, the power of multi-faceted development of any state gives it importance. My wish is that you get such strength that you can serve the people selflessly. Such opportunities do not come often in life.
In the last 12 years, this state has progressed a lot in many sectors. Roads are a great necessity for progress, especially in hilly areas. Due to being divided into small states, there were no roads in Himachal Pradesh, and then the plan to build roads on a large scale was being prepared. Now motor vehicles run on almost 1,600 miles of roads. Many bridges have been built, and the construction work is progressing well. The construction of roads has greatly facilitated movement and economic development. Last year, the Transport Department of Himachal Pradesh served 20 lakh passengers and ran vehicles for 56 lakh miles. Lakhs of tons of potatoes and fruits, which earlier used to rot in large quantities due to the inconvenience of transportation, are now sold in markets outside the state at good prices. When economic benefits started coming in, the feeling of working hard wholeheartedly to increase production awakened. This year the potato production has been estimated to be 16 lakh maunds. Fruit orchards are being planted in abundance. The export of fruits like apple, peach etc now kindles hope that one day Himachal Pradesh will be counted among the most prosperous states of India. Many research and development schemes are underway which will be of great help in the future. It is quite clear that the economic condition of this state depends more on fruits than grains, because fruits give many times more income than grains and due to the suitable climate here; fruit orchards can be easily planted. Therefore, it is necessary that we make continuous efforts to produce as many and the best fruits as possible and make full arrangements to provide all the facilities to the farmers, using the help of science and by implementing laws. Despite all this, grains have to be grown, and our effort should be to produce so much grain that we meet the needs of the state and if possible, we can also send some outside. Although the state has won titles like ’Rashtra Kalash’ and ’Rajya Kalash’, but I do not know to what extent the government level assistance has reached farmers. I believe that as far as possible we should take up the problems of every village and make plans to solve them, and we should try to provide them with resources through those plans. It will take a lot of time to complete this work, but by handling the work in this way, our progress will have a strong foundation. With the help of West Germany, agriculture is progressing well in Mandi district, but we should not be satisfied with this. You may know that the agricultural land in Germany is not fertile by itself, but the German people have made it very fertile with their intelligence, skill, and hard work. We should take full advantage of such experienced people.
The foundation of any democracy depends on public cooperation, and to take backward classes forward, it is essential to believe in the principle of cooperation. For this reason, we repeatedly receive orders from the Central Government that we should promote cooperative institutions to the best of our ability. We should decide to run our work through cooperative societies in irrigation, fertiliser management, animal husbandry schemes, and financial assistance for production. We should leave the theoretical debates and try our best to solve the problems that arise in the functioning of these societies. The people of this state are honest, and if they are helped wholeheartedly by the government, then I believe that our efforts will definitely be successful.
Along with agriculture, we will have to pay more attention to livestock. I have heard that in the mountains, cows only give 250g of milk or half ser milk, and thus many cows have to be reared. People cannot survive on only grain crops and fruits. Therefore, it is necessary that we improve our livestock. I am happy to know that in our state, schemes are being implemented to produce good breeds of cows and poultry farming is also progressing well. Good breeds of sheep are also being prepared so that we can get quality wool. Due to the construction of Bhakra Dam, we have got the facility of rearing fish in Govind Sagar. Now it is being estimated that in the next 5â10 years, an income of about 5 lakh rupees per year will be generated from fish. We have the good fortune of having a lot of rivers, so we should implement many such small schemes to rear more fish. Due to the current situation of national emergency and being a border state, some needs of the army have come up before us. The army needs good breeds of mules and horses. Work has started in this regard. We should try our best in this direction.
Due to excessive rain and snow, a lot of erosion is taking place in our land. This is a matter of concern. Although the Soil Conservation Board has been formed in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and the work is also being done scientifically, but I believe that this work is so vast that unless we get the cooperation of almost every farmer through small schemes, we cannot succeed in land conservation. Our effort should be to make a land conservation scheme in every village, and then we should arrange to give every kind of help to implement these schemes.
We have another question related to the serious problem of soil erosion. The mountain rivers of our country carry a lot of rainwater to the plains and cause a lot of damage by causing floods. It would be better if we make small dams on these rivers and use them for our own use. It is true that the means of electricity and irrigation have increased due to dams like Bhakra, but such big schemes are completed in years; a lot of money is spent on them and, at the same time, the lands near them are inundated with water, having devastating consequences for many people. Therefore, our attention should be directed towards small schemes. The Cabinet has decided that a unit should be formed soon which will survey our rivers and give its suggestions as to at which places we should make small dams in our rivers and streams to generate electricity and provide irrigation facilities.
In the last few years, the state has made a lot of progress in the field of education. There is a degree college for each district and there this year 130 primary schools are planned to be opened. The government is constantly trying to provide facilities for teaching children in every village and I believe that, in a few years, through these efforts, universal literacy will be achieved. But we should not be satisfied with this. Now the time has come that we should pay more attention to the standard of education. What should be our education at every level, where do we want to take our youth, what sort of talented youth do we need for a progressive society â we should keep a clear outline of our future society in our mind. The form of the society depends on its members and the responsibility of how the members should be, to a large extent, lies on their education. No matter how big plans we make in the country, how big dams and mills we build, but if we do not know how to educate our children, then the country can never progress. We should think about what kind of books we should give to our children, what kind of educational materials we should collect for their mental development, and what kind of teachers we should make available to them. Children are the biggest treasure of our country and if we cannot provide proper physical and mental nourishment to this treasure, then the future will be dark. It is a fundamental truth that teachers mould children. Even today, if you consider the biographies of the country’s eminent people, you will see that teachers had a huge role in uplifting their lives. Therefore, it is necessary that we train teachers well and inspire them in such a way that they consider education as the most valuable goal of their life. Our country is poor, and it is also true that we cannot provide adequate resources to our teachers, but we can give them such a respected place in society that they feel proud of doing their work. In our country, teachers have always been given a very high place. Gurukuls of the past are examples of this, where kings and paupers alike used to bow down before the teacher. Today we have to think about all these things and give the teacher his due respect. I am sure that the teacher community will understand its responsibility after getting due respect.
Figure 1.2: Copy of letter appointing Bhagwan Sahay as Lt Governor of HP. Source: National Archives of India.
Today’s era is industry oriented. No state can progress without promoting industries. The forest wealth of our state is valuable, and we can promote many industries using its wood. The Cabinet is deeply considering how we can make full use of our forest wealth. In the state, 44.5 percent of the land is covered with forests; many types of herbs can be grown under these forests and in other vacant places. There is a great demand for herbs and the state’s income can be increased through them.
More industries can be started in the state. Incentives will have to be given to run them â cheap land, electricity, etc. If necessary, industrialists from outside the state can be invited to set up factories. This will provide employment opportunities to the local people and also give experience and inspiration in running industries. I think that after some time the local people will start running their own businesses.
The people of the state, as I have said earlier, are simple, truthful, and honest. What Hiuen Tsang had written about India in the seventh century is true for this state even today. This truth should remain alive in the new circumstances. What is the use of all our industrial progress and prosperity if we change the honesty and simplicity of the people here? It is my experience that the complexities of law often have a negative impact on the character of man. We should constantly make efforts to ensure that the simple people here get easy justice.
As far as possible, they should not have to deal with the police and courts, and they should settle their petty disputes in their Panchayats itself. I think that under the auspices of the Panchayat, a person stays honest, so we should strengthen the Panchayats. Have faith in the Panchayat system and run them in such a way that they understand their responsibility and can provide justice to the people of the village at their homes.
The climate of Himachal is generally healthy, but the human body is always busy with diseases, so the need for medical facilities remains.
A lot of efforts have been made in this direction in the state. Due to the terrain, doctors from the plains are less willing to come here. In the third Five-Year Plan, a provision of 50 lakhs has been made for opening medical colleges in the state. I hope that primary classes will start from the coming July. A provision of 27 crores 93 lakhs has been approved for the third Five-Year Plan. The Honourable Finance Minister will tell you in detail about the income and expenditure of the state, but I would definitely like to say that the income of the state is about 5 crores and the expenditure is about 9 crores. Apart from this, about 4 crores will be spent on capital works.
central government will make up the deficit in the form of grants and loans, but we should think that till when will we want to run our social life on loans and grants. The self-respect and prestige of the state demands that we try to stand on our own feet as far as possible.
Pradesh has always been important for our country. Great men have called it Devatma, and this holy land of sages and saints casts a spell on the mind of every Indian. Today the enemy is eyeing this sacred land of ours. Our state is also a sentinel of the country. Hence, we have great responsibilities. We have to remain vigilant every moment. Despite having limited resources, manpower and money have to be used for self-defence. Many schemes are underway with which we have to give full cooperation. The main objective of these schemes is to prepare the common man for self-defence, strengthen his self-confidence, and train him in weapons and other necessary things for defence. We have to take these programmes forward rapidly. Along with this, the needs of our soldiers and armies must be fulfilled as far as possible. Every soldier of the independent country is ours, and we have full support in his work. Finally, I extend my best wishes to the Parliament.
To achieve the goal, everyone must continue to perform their respective duties.