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1960: Economy

It was the time of big dams, new universities and colleges

Omair Ahmad

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N.C. Saxena,
Former member-secretary, Planning Commission
It was the time of big dams, new universities and colleges. None of us educated young people in the urban centres ever doubted that we’d get a job, since so many new jobs were being created. Later, there would be too many graduates, especially from rural areas, but not enough jobs—and this would create great discontent.


Mera desh? Anit-Hindi agitation in Tamil Nadu

We were still dependent on food aid coming from the US, the Green Revolution had yet to happen and 40 per cent of our economy was agriculture-dependent, so a bad harvest could wreak havoc on our growth, which it did during the third Five Year Plan. The big threat in 1960 was regionalism fuelled by linguistic demands, but that sorted itself out. Instead, the major cause of violence then became communal, with the first major riots after Independence taking place in Jabalpur in 1961.

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