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.