Gulzarilal Nanda was an Indian politician and Economist who specialized in labour issues.
He was the Prime Minister of India for two short periods following the deaths of Jawaharlal
Nehru in 1964 and Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1966.
Both his terms ended after the ruling Indian National Congress's parliamentary party elected
a new prime minister.
He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, in 1997.
Early life Nanda was born on 4 July 1898 in Sialkot in
the Punjab Province of British India into a Punjabi Hindu family.
Nanda received his education in Lahore, Amritsar, Agra, and Allahabad.
Nanda worked as a research scholar on labour problems at Allahabad University, and became
a Professor of Economics at National College in Bombay in 1921.
The same year, he joined the Indian Non-Cooperation Movement against the British Raj.
In 1922, he became secretary of the Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association where he worked
until 1946.
He was imprisoned for Satyagraha in 1932, and again from 1942 to 1944..
He honored with “Proud Past Alumni" in the list of 42 members, from "Allahabad University
Alumni Association", NCR, Ghaziabad Chapter 2007-2008 registered under society act 1860
with registration no.
407/2000.
Member of Bombay Legislative Assembly In the British Raj, Nanda was elected to the
Bombay Legislative Assembly in 1937, and served as parliamentary secretary to the Government
of Bombay from 1937 to 1939.
As Labour Minister of the Bombay Government during 1946–50, he successfully piloted
the Labor Disputes Bill in the state assembly.
He served as a Trustee of the Kasturba Memorial Trust.
He served as secretary of the Hindustan Mazdoor Sevak Sangh, and Chairman of the Bombay Housing
Board.
He was a member of the National Planning Committee.
He was largely instrumental in organising the Indian National Trade Union Congress,
and later became its president.
In 1947, Nanda went to Geneva, Switzerland as a government delegate to the International
Labor Conference.
He worked on The Freedom of Association Committee of the Conference, and visited Sweden, France,
Switzerland, Belgium, and the UK to study labour and housing conditions in those countries.
In March 1950, Nanda joined the Indian Planning Commission as its vice-chairman.
In September 1951, he was appointed Planning Minister in the Indian Government.
He was also given charge of the portfolios of Irrigation and Power.
He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Bombay in the general elections of 1952, and was
reappointed Minister for Planning, Irrigation, and Power.
He led the Indian Delegation to the Plan Consultative Committee held in Singapore in 1955, and the
International Labor Conference held in Geneva in 1959.
Nanda was elected to the Lok Sabha in the 1957 elections, and was appointed Union Minister
for Labour, Employment and Planning, and later, as Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission.
He visited the Federal Republic of Germany, Yugoslavia, and Austria in 1959.
Nanda was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in the 1962 elections from the Sabarkantha constituency
in Gujarat.
He initiated the Congress Forum for Socialist Action in 1962.
He was Union Minister for Labour and Employment during 1962 – 1963, and Minister for Home
Affairs during 1963 – 1966.
Interim Prime Minister Nanda was the Prime Minister of India twice
for thirteen days each: the first time after the death of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru
in 1964, and the second time after the death of Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1966.
Both his terms were uneventful, yet they were sensitive of period because of the potential
danger to the country following Nehru's death soon after a war with China in 1962 and Shastri's
death after a war with Pakistan in 1965.
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