Introduction

Introduction

The Yeshwantrao Chavan Pratishthan has launched an ambitious scheme of bringing out a series of publications containing the selected speeches delivered by the late Shri Yeshwantrao Chavan in the Bombay/Maharashtra State Legislatures and Parliament between 1946 to 1977 and his private correspondence. This series, it is hoped, will serve as valuable and useful source material for the students of modern History. They will also provide rare source material of great historical significance to the public in general and to the research scholars in particular enabling them to undertake a comprehensive and balanced study of social and political change in modern Maharashtra boldly carried out by Shri Yeshwantrao Chavan during his ministership in the State and at the Centre from 1946 to 1977. In this series, Volume I pertains to the important period of 1946 to 1962 and contains the notable speeches in Marathi delivered by Shri Yeshwantrao Chavan. These speeches mainly throw new light on the varied administrative reforms carried out with rare foresight, tact and zeal by Shri Yeshwantrao Chavan.The advantage of such a collection of speeches in a handy volume call for little remark.

Shri Yeshwantrao Chavan was in Bombay and in Maharashtra Legislature from 1946 to 1962 and in parliament from November 1962 to 1977 as a minister. He made several speeches in the State Legislatures which are found in several debate volumes, each volume containing on an average about one thousand closely printed pages. So also the speeches made in Parliament by Shri Yeshwantrao Chavan are found in the Parliamentary debates volumes.

This is a formidable and unwieldy work of reference and by no means everywhere available. Therefore, the Pratisthan entrusted this work of selecting notable speeches of Shri Yeshwantrao Chavan to me. I put them in shape as handy reference book.

The following collections of speeches delivered by Yeshwantrao Chavan, can be described as a broad spectrum of a gamut of subjects that came up for discussion in the Legislative Assembly first of Bombay State, then of Bilingual Bombay State and then of Maharashtra State during 1946-1962. The outstanding feature of these speeches is that they more than conclusively establish the fact that Shri Chavan is a consummate born parliamentarian. He disarms the opposition whenever it comes out with carping criticism of Government policies with candour coupled with firmness, be it ban on cow-slaughter or Socialism or Marxism. At the same time he is a respecter of persons and their opinions. He returns the opposition sallies with patience and a pragmatic approach though one finds him often repulsing the opposition attacks with banter and sarcasm and anecdotes. Truly, one feels often that Shri Chavan would have been a highly successful diplomat with his refined manners and infinite charm.

Thus he lucidly explains how ban on cow-slaughter may not be in the best interests of the country as an economic measure and like a cautious housewife stresses the need to drastically curtail the expenditure of the Gram Panchayats which are not realistic in their lavishness. All administrative measures do not yield expected returns always. Thus the losses incurred in the deal over coal and cloth are justified by him in a precise manner by quoting facts and figures.