In the first volume of his memoirs, Shri C. Subramaniam told the story of his life up to 1960 when he was Minister concurrently in charge of Finance, Education and Law in the Government of Tamil Nadu.
Following the 1962 General Elections, he moved to the Centre, initially holding the portfolio of Steel and Heavy Engineering, and later, Food and Agriculture, Finance, Planning and Defence.
In the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, considered as the graveyard of many reputations, Shri Subramaniam boldly initiated the process of the Green Revolution, which he considers as his "most important service to the nation".
Thanks to the Green Revolution, there is enough justification to feel confident that the curse of recurring famines has been lifted from the country forever.
Shri C. Subramaniam (b. Jan. 30, 1910). popularly known as 'C.S.', is one of the few Indian statesmen of whom it could be said that he was a friend of truth, of soul sincere, in action faithful, who gave no false promises, served no private end.
As Minister, both at the State-level and at the Centre, Shri Subramaniam played a significant role in various fields of national endeavour- education, agriculture, planning, industry. science and technology, finance and defence. Well-known as the 'Father of the Green Revolution, he is a seasoned parliamentarian and an accomplished writer and author of several books.
He has been associated with Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan-the largest comprehensive, apolitical, national cultural organisation of India with an international outlook for several years. He became its President in 1990.
1932: Graduated in Law Joined the Civil Disobedience Movement as a Congress volunteer and was imprisoned. 1936: Practised law in Coimbatore. 1941: Participated in the Individual Satyagraha and was jailed. 1943: Detained for taking part in the Quit India Movement. 1946-52: Member of Constituent Assembly and Provisional Parliament 1952- 62: Madras Legislative Assembly Member and Minister concurrently in charge of Finance, Education, Law. 1962-67: At the Centre: Union Minister of Steel, Mines and Heavy Engineering. Food and Agriculture, Community Development and Co-operation. 1971-77: Minister for Planning, Science and Technology, Industrial Development and Finance. 1979: Minister for Defence. 1990-93: Governor of Maharashtra.
The first volume of my memoirs, "Hand of Destiny", under the title, "The Turning Point", was published in 1993. I am happy that it has been well received and appreciative reviews of the book have appeared in many leading newspapers and magazines. A Tamil edition has also been published.
The second volume of the memoirs is now being brought out under the title, "The Green Revolution". Even though this volume contains many other matters also, I have chosen this title because I consider the launching of the "Green Revolution" in agriculture during my tenure as Food and Agriculture Minister as my most important national service.
During the British regime, there used to be periodic famines in various parts of the country and starvation deaths used to take place on a large scale. Since independence, in spite of the increasing population, we have been able to avoid occurrence of famines by increasing the production of cereals with new irrigation projects and by extending the area of cultivation.
Later, when indigenous production was inadequate to meet our growing requirements, we had to go in for import of foodgrains, particularly wheat, from the United States of America, under P.L. 480. But dependence on imported foodgrains, "living from ship to mouth" as picturesquely called by one of my predecessors, Dr. K.M. Munshi, was fraught with inherent danger. The real task was to increase production within the country.
I have detailed in this volume the process of launching a new programme of agricultural development, based on the application of science and technology. I have not confined my narration to the period of my tenure as Minister of Food and Agriculture but have covered later periods also, stressing the need for continuous effort to develop agriculture, not only for meeting the food requirements of the country but for bringing about what I have termed as Integrated Rural Development Programme, to eradicate poverty.
This volume also deals with two critical periods when Prime Minister Nehru, and later Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, died and succession to the Prime Ministership had to be organised in a democratic manner. In this, I have highlighted the key role played by Shri Kamaraj in choosing the new Prime Ministers on both occasions. The peaceful, democratic transition won India international acclaim as a mature democracy.
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