Issued by India

Issued on Dec 28, 1985

Issued for : The Department of Posts is happy to bring out a set of commemorative postage stamps on the Centenary of the Indian National Congress.

Description of Designs : The se-tenant set prepared by India Security Press, Nashik Road, based on a design by C.R. Pakrashi, presents a composite picture, depicting the portraits of A.O. Hume & 60 Congress Presidents starting from W.C. Bonnerjee, to the present President, Shri Rajiv Gandhi. The First Day Cover has been designed by C.R. Pakrashi. The cancellation has been designed by Nenu Bagga.

Type : Se–tenant Block of 4 Stamps, Postal Used

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 100 Paise each

Overall size : 9.66 x 8.12 cms.

Printing size : 9.66 x 8.12 cms.

Perforation : 14 x 14

Paper : Unwatermarked adhesive stamp paper

Number printed : 15,00,000 each

Number per issue sheet : 12

Printing process : Photogravure

Printed at : India Security Press

About : 

• The Indian National Congress was founded in 1885 and in the same year, the first session was held in Bombay under the Presidentship of Shri W.C. Bonnerjee. The illustrious sons of India like Dadabai Naoroji, Surendra Nath Bannerjee and Madan Mohan Malaviya laid the foundation of this organisation.
  
• From the very beginning, the aim of the Congress was to establish Parliamentary institutions in the country. Renowned Constitutional experts like Dadabai Naoroji, Surender Nath Bannerjee and Gopal Krishan Gokhale, worked untiringly for setting up Parliamentary system of Government and for the growth of a secular, multilingual and multi-religious nationalism. Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Aurobindo Ghosh, Lajpat Rai and Bipin Chandra Paul were the first to adopt the posture of radical nationalism and invoked their countrymen to adopt a more dynamic plan of action. Lok Manya Tilak was the first to declare “Swaraj is my birthright”. In 1929, Jawaharlal Nehru presided over the Lahore session of the Congress. In this Session, the Congress declared complete freedom as its ultimate goal. During the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930-31 and 1931-32, the Indians undertook agitations on the appeal from Congress and these movements shook the foundations of the foreign rule in India.
  
• The Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi could feel the pulse of the nation. He asserted that to achieve freedom, it was essential to create political awakening among the masses and train them for a struggle through non–violence against the foreign domination. Thus, non-violence became the basic creed of the Congress. The historic Karachi Session of Congress in 1931 was held under the Chairmanship of Vallabh Bhai Patel in which the famous resolution of fundamental rights was adopted.
  
• In the Lucknow Session 1936, Nehru formulated the foreign policy for the country based on working for peace and freedom, support for freedom struggle elsewhere and raising our voice against colonialism.
  
• In the historic meeting of All India Congress Committee, held in Bombay in 1942, presided over by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Mahatma Gandhi gave the slogan ‘Do or Die’ and people of India stood as one force to fight the British Rule. Their struggle bore fruit in 1947 and India attained the long cherished independence.
  
• Smt. Indira Gandhi as Congress President in 1959 and from 1978 to 1984 worked for the cherished goal of a socialistic society. Decisions of her Government like Nationalisation of Banks and insurance companies, abolition of privy purses etc. were all aimed at removing economic disparity and increasing social control over the means of production and distribution. Great leaders have nourished and contributed to its growth and maturity.

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Issued by India

Issued on Nov 19, 1985

Issued for : The Department of Posts pay its humble tribute to its charismatic and dynamic leader on her birth anniversary by issuing this commemorative stamp.

Description of Designs : The 300 P. multicolour stamp has been designed by Romesh Chopra. The First Day Cover is based on a photograph taken by Raghu Rai. The cancellation has been designed by Nenu Bagga.

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Multicolour

Denomination : 300 Paise

Overall size : 4.83 x 4.06 cms.

Printing size : 4.4 x 3.6 cms.

Perforation : 14 x 14

Paper : Unwatermarked P.G. matt coated paper

Number printed : 15,00,000

Number per issue sheet : 20

Printing process : Photogravure

Printed at : India Security Press

Name : Indira Priyadarshini Nehru

Born on Nov 19, 1917 at Allahabad, United Provinces, British India

Died on Oct 31, 1984 at New Delhi, India

About : 

• Indira Gandhi was born on 19^th November, 1917 in Allahabad. She was named Indira Priyadarshini “She who one loves to look upon”. In a letter to Jawaharlal Nehru on the occasion, Sarojini Naidu wrote : “This child will be the new soul of India“. Indira Priyadarshini had her early education in Vishwa Bharati, Shantiniketan and Switzerland. Later she joined Sommerville College at Oxford, England.
• Young Indira was actively involved in the country’s freedom struggle from a very early age. She founded the ‘Bal-charkha Sangh‘ and in 1930, the ‘Vanar Sena‘ of children to help the Congress party during the non-cooperation movement. Her father Jawaharlal Nehru influenced her deeply. To her, he was a companion, a teacher and a colleague. His letters from the prison ‘Letters from a father to a daughter‘ and also ‘Glimpses of World History‘ imparted to her a sense of history and heritage and a global view of the world, a view that found expression as she matured, in her perceptions and actions. Indira was married to Feroze Gandhi, a childhood friend on March 26, 1942. Indira and Feroze were closely associated with the non-cooperation movement. On India‘s Independence she wrote : “It is one of the proudest and most exciting moments of my life“.
• Throughout Jawaharlal Nehru‘s tenure of 17 years as Prime Minister, Indira was active at home in various capacities. She was the official hostess for her father and met a large number of world personalities, each new meeting and experience enriching her personality and preparing her for the role she would later play in shaping India.
• In January 1966, she was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India. Indira had a tough determination and led the country ahead with her inexhaustible capacity to work, and an uncanny sense of timing. She had an intense love of life, and at the same time clarity, precision, a fierce courage, an inexhaustible energy and a concern for detail.
• Under her dynamic leadership and guidance, India progressed on all fronts. Sensitive to the needs of the country with its multifarious religions, languages and customs, Indira dreamt and worked for a modern and self reliant India. Her policies, specially in areas of rural development, education, and industrial development, helped to create an economically sound climate in which the country and its vast multitudes of people progressed.
• In the years of her leadership, full of activity and political turmoil, she found sustenance in nature and in a close identification with the creative arts. Immaculately groomed, she was soon to be regarded as one of the most elegantly dressed woman in India. Meeting and talking to artists and writers, philosophers and scientists revived her, enriched her and provided her with regenerating source of energy. She had a fund of anecdotes and the capacity to generate conversation turned to the interests of her guests which made her a thoughtful and gracious hostess.
• As chairperson of the Non-Aligned, she voiced concern for world peace. In telling words, she said “We must create a new international order of humanity where power is tempered with compassion, where knowledge and capability are at the service of all humanity.”

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Issued by India

Issued on Oct 31, 1985

Issued for : Department of Posts pays its humble tribute to the great leader who laid down her life in the cause of unity of the nation by issuing this third postage stamp in her honour on the solemn occasion of her first death anniversary.

Description of Designs : The stamp has been designed by India Security Press, Nashik Road. The First Day Cover has been designed by Kashi Nath Raha. The cancellation has been designed by Nenu Bagga.

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Multicolour

Denomination : 200 Paise

Overall size : 4.83 x 4.06 cms.

Printing size : 4.4 x 3.6 cms.

Perforation : 14 x 14

Paper : Unwatermarked P.G. matt coated paper

Number printed : 15,00,000

Number per issue sheet : 50

Printing Process : Photogravure

Printed at : India Security Press

Name : Indira Priyadarshini Nehru

Born on Nov 19, 1917 at Allahabad, United Provinces, British India

Died on Oct 31, 1984 at New Delhi, India

About : 

• The life of Smt. Indira Gandhi, twice Prime Minister of India, was a saga of service to the nation. She endeavoured to bring to India fruits of development, modernity and progress and ultimately laid down her life in the cause of unity and integrity of the country. The immense challenges as presented by a country of India‘s size, population and diversity were successfully met by Smt. Gandhi, who served to weld this country as a modern nation , occupying a place of honour in the comity of nations.
• Smt. Gandhi became the Prime Minister of India in January 1966. But for a brief spell of three years from 1977 to 1980, she continued to lead the country to her cherished goal of social and economic justice and all round progress and prosperity till her death in 1984. During her tenure as Prime Minister she took bold and pragmatic steps like the Nationalisation of Banks and Abolition of Bonded Labour. A firm believer in socialism, equality and secularism, she worked tirelessly for advancement of the weaker sections and the minorities and took special care in safeguarding their cultural, religious and linguistic rights and traditions.
• The policies of Smt. Gandhi gave India a stable economic and industrial base and opened new vistas for prosperity all round. India achieved remarkable progress in the fields of science and technology due to her keen encouragement. During her tenure, India had the honour of putting her first man in space, launching communication satellites for mass education and testing her first nuclear device for peaceful purposes. India, under her stewardship, went all out in a big way in off-shore drilling to achieve near self-sufficiency in oil. The expedition to Antarctica was a landmark of her time.
• Smt. Gandhi always laid emphasis on youth welfare and education as essential to nation building. Her interest in moulding the youth through sports manifested itself in India hosting the Asiad in 1982. For her contribution to development of sports, the Gold Order of the International Olympic Council was conferred on her. Proud of India’s rich cultural heritage, she conceived of the Festivals of India. The first Festival was inaugurated by her in Great Britain.
• Realising that over-population was the root cause of many of India’s problems, she made strident efforts in the area of family planning and was awarded the UN Population Award in 1983. Smt. Gandhi was totally committed to the cause of better environment and ecological preservation. She pleaded passionately in international forums to take concrete measures to avoid thoughtless plundering of nature and desecration of our environment.
• On the international front, she voiced the concern for world peace and social justice on behalf of the developing countries. The Non-Aligned Meet of which she was made the chairperson in 1983 and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in India were some of the important highlights, which will go down in history. She made constant efforts to develop friendly relations with neighbouring countries in order to maintain peace in the sub-continent and for preserving Indian Ocean as a zone of peace. For her untiring, unmatched service to the nation she was awarded the Bharat Ratna.

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Issued by India

Issued on Jan 31, 1985

Issued for : The Indian Posts & Telegraphs Department pays its homage to a World Leader and Statesman, Smt. Indira Gandhi: Crusader for World Peace.

Description of Design : The 200 p. multicolour stamp has been designed by Shri Romi Chopra. The first day cover has been designed by Shri Arvind Saxena. The cancellation design has been prepared by Nenu Bagga.

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Multicolour

Denomination : 200 Paise

Overall size : 4.8 x 4.06 cms.

Printing size : 4.8 x 4.06 cms.

Perforation : 14 x 14

Paper : Unwatermarked P. G. coated gummed stamp paper

Number printed : 15,00,000

Number per issue sheet : 50

Printing process : Photogravure

Printed at : India Security Press

Name : Indira Priyadarshini Nehru

Born on Nov 19, 1917 at Allahabad, United Provinces, British India

Died on Oct 31, 1984 at New Delhi, India

About : 

• Smt. Indira Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru‘s illustrious daughter and the charismatic leader of the people of India, was a dedicated crusader for international Peace and Brotherhood. The concept of one world and one people was the abiding principle in all her foreign policy pronouncements. India’s policy under her stewardship was to consolidate friendship where it existed and to build bridges of understanding and interest where there was indifference or even hostility. The endeavour was to enlarge areas of cooperation with other nations through collaboration and friendship rather than by competition and rivalry. Solutions to bilateral problems were sought through discussions, avoiding recourse to armaments. The Simla Pact and other bilateral agreements with our neighbours for regional cooperation and harmony remain shining examples of the urge for peace and understanding that has marked Smt. Gandhi‘s policies. Smt. Gandhi believed that the achievements of Peace were more glorious than the laurels of war.
• Under her inspiring leadership, India‘s voice for sanity and peace in the troubled areas of Asia, Africa and Latin America was heard with respect and India‘s advice was sought by anxious nations for lessening international tensions.
• Smt. Indira Gandhi spoke for the developing countries and as Chairperson of the Non-Aligned Movement, she tried to ease world conflict and bring warring nations to a common platform for discussion and settlement of mutual problems. Under her leadership, India’s voice for Peace was a voice for survival. She believed that India‘s peace was not due to any superior virtue but because peace is indispensable for progress. Either, the world progresses towards non-violence or rushes to its doom.
• In her keynote address at the Session of the 20^th Anniversary of the First Summit Conference of the Non-Aligned Countries at New Delhi in February 1981, Smt. Gandhi quoted the famous poetess Sarojini Naidu, who said, “True peace is not the peace of negation, not the peace of surrender, not the peace of the coward, not the peace of the dying, not the peace of the dead, but the peace militant, dynamic, creative the human spirit which exalts”.
• It was indeed a sombre omen for international polity that a frail woman who steadfastly strove for world peace should have herself fallen victim to terrorism. The Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, always emphasised that wrong means do not lead to right ends.
• Our world is getting increasingly turbulent and insecure. International economic relations continue to be characterised by inequality, domination and exploration. Deployment of force has become a familiar international occurrence. Peace is in peril, even when we know that there can be survival and development only in peace and in an atmosphere of good-will among Nations.
• Disarmament, Peace, Independence and Development are closely interrelated. There can be no peace alongside nuclear weapons. The desire for peace is universal, fortunately, even within the countries which themselves produce weapons of unimaginable destruction.
• Like righteousness, peace protects us, when Peace needs to be tended and safeguard, we protect it.
• Smt. Gandhi believed that, only with co-existence can there be existence. This perhaps was the spirit behind all her endeavours. Blessed indeed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Smt. Gandhi did not just preach Peace, she practised it.

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Issued by India

Issued on Nov 19, 1984

Issued for : The Indian Posts & Telegraphs Department offers its humble tribute, to this illustrious leader of our country, a legend of our times – Smt. Indira Gandhi.

Description of Designs : The 50 p. two colour stamp is designed by Charanjit Lal. The first day cover is based on a design prepared by Badar Makhmoor. The cancellation has been designed by Alka Sharma.

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Colour : Multicolour

Denomination : 50 Paise

Name : Indira Priyadarshini Nehru

Born on Nov 19, 1917 at Allahabad, United Provinces, British India

Died on Oct 31, 1984 at New Delhi, India

About : 

• Born on November 19, 1917 at Allahabad, Indira Priyadarshini as she was named by her father Jawaharlal Nehru and her mother Kamala Nehru, got her early education in Switzerland and at Oxford, and in India at Bombay, Pune and at the Vishwa Bharati, Shantiniketan.
  
• Even in her early childhood, young Indira involved herself in the struggle for freedom and founded the Bal Charkha Sangh, and in 1930 the ‘Vanar Sena‘ of children to help the Congress Party during the Non-Cooperation Movement. Indira Priyadarshini was married to Feroze Gandhi on March 26, 1942. Soon after, she and Feroze Gandhi were imprisoned in September, 1942, for their association with the Non-Cooperation Movement. Smt. Indira Gandhi came in close contact with various eminent national leaders through her father and her family. She was greatly influenced by the ideals of Mahatama Gandhi and worked in the riot affected areas of Delhi under Gandhiji‘s directions in 1947. Smt. Indira Gandhi and Feroze Gandhi had two sons Rajiv and Sanjay. Sanjay died prematurely in an air-crash at Delhi.
• After Independence, Smt. Indira Gandhi was the official hostess to her father Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. She accompanied Pandit Nehru on his tours in the country and abroad and picked up the art of statecraft and diplomacy from her famed father. From 1955 she was actively associated with the working of the Indian National Congress and was elected as its President for the term 1959-60. She was made the Minister for Information and Broadcasting in 1964 in the cabinet of Late Lal Bahadur Shastri. After the sudden demise of Lal Bahadur Shastri, Smt. Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister of India in January, 1966. She continued to lead the country through various challenges and trying situations upto March, 1977 when in the elections she was defeated. However, she was back as the Prime Minister of India in January, 1980 and since then provided dynamic leadership to this country of over 700 million people of various religions, languages and customs, till she breathed her last. She was associated with a very large number of welfare and cultural organisations and institutions. On an average she used to work 17 to 18 hours a day. Her work provided her the source of recreation and relaxation. Smt. Gandhi was fond of the mountains, wherefrom, she derived inspiration and strength. Being a lover of nature she took active interest in all ecological preservation efforts.
• True to her socialistic ideals Smt. Indira Gandhi took a number of bold steps like abolition of privy purses and nationalisation of banks. She had a special corner in her heart for the poor and the downtrodden as also for the disabled. She launched the twenty point programme for the removal of poverty, ‘Garibi Hatao’, and for the all round progress of the nation. On the international front, India got a place of rare honour and respect at all forums, thanks to her keen understanding and appreciation of the international situation.
• Smt. Indira Gandhi has been conferred with a number of honorary doctoral degrees from the Universities and Institutions around the world, she was also awarded a very large number of prestigious national and international awards including the Bharat Ratna in 1972. In 1971 she was acclaimed to be the most admired women according to a poll conducted by the French Institute of Public Opinion. Smt. Gandhi travelled all over India and the larger part of the world, and wherever she went she won numerous friends and admirers. Busy as she was with all her myriad responsibilities Smt. Gandhi enjoyed reading on a variety of subjects. She has also written a number of books and reminiscences which include Eternal India, Ma Varite, My Truth, Peoples and Problems and a few more. Not only was Smt. Gandhi acclaimed as a connoisseur of the arts, she was also an ardent advocate of scientific and technological advancement. India’s Space and Nuclear Research programmes owe their growth and development to the vision and foresight of Smt. Indira Gandhi.
• It was her encouragement which earned the Asian Games held in Delhi in 1982, worldwide fame. The successful hosting of the Non-Aligned Summit Meet and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in New Delhi under her leadership made every Indian proud. It was an honour for her and for the country when she was elected chairperson of the Non-Aligned Meet in 1983.
• Smt. Indira Gandhi worked relentlessly for the integration, unity and progress of the country till the very last. In one of her last speeches she said:
  • “Every drop of my blood, I am sure, will contribute to the growth of this nation and make it strong and dynamic.”
• The nation lost a charismatic leader with a rare vision, and the world a remarkably foresighted statesman, when Smt. Indira Gandhi was assassinated on the morning of the 31^st October, 1984 bringing to a close a most eventful era in India’s history.

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