Appendex VII

Programme of Bharatiya Jana Sangh

JANA SANGH
PEOPLE'S PARTY
PROGRAMME
(APPROVED BY A CONFERENCE OF ORIGINAL MEMBERS OF
THE PARTY)
1. The Party will give its first and foremost attention to the supply
of food and cloth at reasonable prices. It will also be its immediate
endeavour to secure reductions in the prices of other essential
commodities. Unemployment will also receive its earnest attention.
In carrying on its activities, the Party will try to create an enthusiasm
in the heart of the nation and adopt a programme which will inspire
all sections of the people to work for a common national purpose.
2. While not ignoring the beneficial effects on the country of long-term
schemes like river-vally projects and reclamation of land, immediate
attention will have to be devoted to increasing the production of
food-crops and other agricultural commodities from existing acreage
of land. It will be possible to raise the yeield per acre through small-
scale irrigation schemes and the more plentiful supply of seeds,
manure and implements. Uncultivated land will be requisitioned
wherever necessary and co-operative farming will be encouraged.
The party will advocate a more rational procurement polity
which will instead of impeding help production.
3. The Party believes that our economic salvation lies in increasing
production and in adopting a fair and more equitable system of

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 Appendices 369

distribution. The party's activities will be constantly and considerably

directed towards this end.
4. The Party will work for planned decentralisation of industries and the
development of small and medium-size industries aiming at regional
self-sufficiency as far as possible and combating unemployment,
particularly amongst the poor and middle class people.
5. The Party will seek to improve relations between capital and labour
and will encourage arbitration in order to avoid strikes and lock-
outs.
6. Planned re-orientation of the education system in all its stages and
re-organisation of measures for preventing and curing diseases,
specially malaria, cholera and tuberculosis, will be undertaken.
7. The party will devote its special attention to the improvement of
the social, economic and educational advancement of the backward
sections of the population.
8. Rehabilitation of the refugees will be integrated with the untapped
economic resources of West Bengal in such a way as will benefit
the refugees as well as the present residents in the State. Suitable
compensation will be demanded of Pakistan in respect of properties
left by Hindus and others who have migrated to India. Adequate
financial assistance will have to be provided by the Centre and the
State of West Bengal for refugee rehabilitation.
Refugees who have settled and will settle in India will be given
citizenship rights, including the right to vote. Refugees from East
Bengal will have to be settled in West Bengal and the adjoining areas
so as to preserve the cultural traditions of the Bengalee people.
9. The Party will strive for the appropriate recognition by the State of
the work done by the members of the Azad Hind Forces and for
proper utilization of their services in the cause of national uplift.
10. The Party stands for democratic government and the democratic
way of life, the corner-stones of which are free public opinion and
the rule of law.
11. The party will strive its utmost to fight corruption, black-marketing
and profiteering and to create a healthy public opinion in favour of
raising the standard of honesty and efficiency of the administration.
12. The Party will advocate the spread and extension of the highest
traditions of BHARATIYA SANSKRITI:
13. The Party believes that the urgent need of the country is to consolidate
all its resources, moral, spiritual and material, and harness its man-
power for the building up of a strong and vigorous nation. It is only

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 370 Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee and Indian Politics, 1938-1953

on such a foundation that a real spirit of internationalism will grow

and prosper.
14. The Party will urge a re-orientation of our foreign policy which in
the past has been marked on many critical occasions by vacillation,
inconsistency and lack of foresight.
The Party stands for freedom of action in international spheres
and the pursuit of a policy of enlightened self-interest consistent with
the peace and prosperity of a world-order standing for democracy
and progress.
15. The Party is convinced that the partition of India was a short-sighted
act and has given rise to grave complications, economic, political,
strategic and international.
It, therefore, firmly believes that a United India will be of real
benefit to all sections of the people and will stand as a bulwark of
peace and freedom.
16. So long as the partition continues, the relation between India and
Pakistan will be governed by the policy of reciprocity and not by
the policy of appeasement, hitherto pursued, which has produced
disastrous results.
17. The Party will press for a readjustment of boundaries of West Bengal,
the density of whose population per square mile is the highest in the
country. Such readjustment will be justifiable on historical, economic
and administrative considerations and not merely on linguistic
ground.
The party will urge the appointment of a Judicial Commission
of the highest caliber for examining this question impartially and
finding a solution which will be fair and equitable to all concerned.
18. The Party will always be prepared to work in co-operation with
other organisations having similar objectives.

Syama Prasad Mookerjee

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