Deendayal Upadhyaya was born in a poor family in Nagla Chandrabhaan village near Mathura, UP, on 25 September, 1916.
As a child, Deendayal had to face the profound grief of several deaths in the family. Deendayal moved from place to place and completed his masters degree. He was introduced to RSS and became a full timer in the late 1930s.
Deendayal was a prolific writer and a successful editor. He wrote a number of books including Samrat Chandragupt and Jagatguru Shankaracharya, and an analysis of the Five Year plans in India.
He was deputed to work in the Jana Sangh by Shri Golwalkar when the party was founded in 1951 by Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee. From then till 1967 he remained the Jana Sangh All India General Secretary.
It was during this time that he propounded the political philosophy of Integral Humanism. It is now 50 years since the Jana Sangh adopted Integral Humanism as its political-economic manifesto.
Deendayal Upadhyaya died on February 11, 1968 under mysterious circumstances at the age 52. The murder of Pandit Deendayal still remains unresolved.
What are some of his ideals?
The concept of Integral Humanism he propounded envisages remedies for the post-globalisation maladies of the world.
Upadhyaya conceived a classless, casteless and conflict-free social order. He stressed on the ancient Indian wisdom of oneness of the human kind.
For him, the brotherhood of a shared, common heritage was central to political activism. He emphasised on coexistence and harmony with nature.
He conceptualized an alternative approach which was free from the dialectics of competition and envy, a third way from the inertia of Capitalism and Communism.
He was a pioneer of many political experiments. He was the architect of the first coalition phase in Indian politics.
Deen Dayal Upadhyaya was an advocate of less government and more governance.
He believed in self-sustaining autonomous units,more power to states and decentralized and competitive federalism, solidly cemented on the cultural mosaic of our tradition, heritage and experience of the past.
What are the initiatives started in his name?
The Centre government’s schemes like Jan Dhan Yojana, Mudra Yojana, Ujwala Yojana, to give free LPG connection to five crore BPL families, Gram Jyoti Yojana, to electrify the last of the 75,000 villages, toilet for all and house for all are all inspired by this vision.
To mention a few,Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana strives to provide continuous power supply to rural India.
Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojanais the skilling and placement initiative to cater to the occupational aspirations of rural youth and enhancing their skills for wage employment.
Deendayal Upadhyay Shramev Jayate Karyakram works towards a conducive environment for industrial development and doing business with ease, also to impart skill training for workers.
As the nation celebrates the birth centenary of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya this year, the ideals, he stood for have become more relevant in modern India.
Category: Prelims & Mains | GS – I | Indian History
