Now, this enunciation “ownership and control of the material resources of the community to be distributed so as to sub serve the common good” is a very wide enunciation of a most important principle. The enunciation is so general that any system of economy can be based upon it. Upon it can be based a system of socialist economy where all the resources of the country belong to the State and are to be used for the well being of the community as a whole. But a majority in the next Parliament can also come forward and say that the New Deal evolved by Roosevelt is the best system, and it should be adopted. This clause leaves it open to any future parliament to evolve the best plan of their choice. But I feel personally that we should today at least lay down that the key industries of the country shall be owned by the State. This has been an important programme of the Congress since 1921. The Congress has accepted the principle that the key industries shall be controlled by the State. Even recently in the committee appointed by the Congress the report mentioned that the key industries shall be owned by the State; for the present we have postponed nationalization of key industries for ten years. But I do feel that in our Constitution we must lay down that this is our fundamental policy. Unless we lay down in the Constitution itself that the key industries shall be nationalized and shall be primarily used to serve the needs of the nation, we shall be guilty of a great betrayal. Even if the principle is not to be enforced today, we must lay down in this clause (ii) about directive principles that the key industries shall be owned by the State. That is, according to the Congress, the best method of distributing the material resources of the country. I therefore think that Professor Shah’s amendment has merely drawn attention to this fundamental principle.
