The Responsibility of Freedom

Later, in 1947, Lal Bahadur became the Minister of Police and Transport in Pants Ministry. He took many steps to bring discipline into the administration. As Transport Minister he subjected government buses to discipline. He was the first to appoint women conductors. Usually the minister in charge of the Police Department will not remain popular for long. But Lal Bahadur Shastri never allowed the police to resort to lathi charge and firing. He ordered that using jets of water instead of lathis should disperse unruly crowds. Though there were many strikes in Uttar Pradesh when he was in office, there was not a single occasion when people shouted slogans against him.

Lal Bahadur was a lover of cricket. Once he was watching a match at Kanpur. Trouble broke out among the spectators. The Police and young men came to blows. Since Shastriji was on the spot thesituation did not go out of control. The young men demanded that the red turbans (thepolice) should not be found on the cricket ground and Lal Bahadur agreed. But the police were there the next day. The young men became angry with Shastriji and protested. Lal Bahadur laughed and said, I fulfilled my promise to you faithfully. You did not want red turbans to be here. You see the police are now wearing khaki turbans. The spectators laughed and dropped the matter.