Contest Article 4: Lal Bahadur Shastri (1904-1966)
- Born in Uttar Pradesh on 2 October 1904.
- Died on 11 January 1966.
- Lal Bahadur Shastri played a pivotal role in shaping India's future in external affairs and introduced a slogan "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan" (Hail the soldier, hail the farmer).
- Lal Bahadur Shastri was born as Lal Bahadur Varma. When he was graduated from Kashi Vidyapeeth in Varanasi, he was given the title 'Shastri'.
- Shastri went to jail for taking part in Gandhi's non-cooperation movement. But, he was let off as he was still a minor of 17 years
- After Independence when he was appointed as the Transport Minister, Shastri introduced the provision of female drivers and conductors in public transportation.
- On his wedding, he accepted a Khadi cloth and spinning wheel as dowry.
- During his tenure as the Minister of Police, Shastri introduced the rule of spraying jet water to disperse crowd instead of lathi charge
- Shastri also took part in the Salt March, for which he was jailed for a period of two years.
- Shastri had a habit of revising drafts endless number of times. In 1964, he revised his speech for a conference in Cairo so many times that by the time he went to speak it could not be typed in full.
- On the occasion of his birth centenary in 2004, the RBI issued a Rs.100 coin with his portrait on it, commemorating his life. The coin is non-circulating and is available on order alone.