Nuclear power, the Emergency and the road to reform
India tested its first nuclear device, lived through the Emergency, launched the White Revolution and space programmes, and faced a crisis that led to reform in 1991.
How it was ruled
Sikkim became a State in 1975. A national Emergency was in force from 25 June 1975 to 21 March 1977, suspending civil liberties; the 1977 election brought the first non-Congress government at the Centre.
How people lived
Operation Flood (from 1970) made India the world's largest milk producer; television spread; the Asian Games were held in Delhi in 1982.
What people did
Public-sector industry, the growth of a software industry, and farming boosted by the Green Revolution.
What people ate
Milk, wheat and rice became more widely available.
Trade
A balance-of-payments crisis in 1991 led to economic liberalisation.
Region by region
- Rajasthan: Pokhran: India's first nuclear test, 18 May 1974.
- Sikkim: Became the 22nd State of India in 1975.
- Ladakh: Operation Meghdoot (1984) secured the Siachen glacier.
- Gujarat: Amul at Anand led the White Revolution.
- Madhya Pradesh: The Bhopal gas tragedy of December 1984.
Key events
- 1974: Pokhran-I
- 1975–1977: The Emergency
- 1984: Rakesh Sharma flies to space; Operation Meghdoot
- 1991: Economic reforms begin
Legacy
India's nuclear capability, the dairy cooperatives, and the democratic lesson of 1977.