Some Good Things happens in Emergency Period: Manmohan

Former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh says that some good things also takes place during the emergency period imposed during late Indira Gandhi ruling. His daughter Daman Singh wrote a book on him ‘Strictly Personal: Manmohan and Gursharan.

She quotes him saying “I think there was a lot more emphasis on punctuality, on discipline. So some good things happened. But I think the atmosphere in the whole country was one of fear. There were arbitrary arrests and detentions. Lot of unrest in the country, particularly due to the way the family planning program - the sterilization program - was implemented in some of the northern states and in Delhi.”

However, Dr. Singh observed that some good things happens like government employees maintaining punctuality in their offices, while the country was gripped with fear.

Dr.Manmohan told his daughter that ‘Sanjay Gandhi has played as extra-constitutional authority during this dark period. Sanjay Gandhi had a lot of influence. A lot of people, who dealt with things that were of direct interest to him said that they felt the pressure," Dr. Manmohan Singh recounts.

He is all praise to former Prime Minister late PV Narasimha rao. He said that PV, who choses as his Finance Minister has allowed him to go ahead with the liberalization process. He also said that late PV has jokingly told him that “If things worked well with the liberalization idea, we would all claim credit, and if things didn't work out well I would be sacked."