Editing Indira Gandhi (section)

=== Social reform ===
The principle of equal pay for equal work for both men and women was enshrined in the Indian Constitution under the Gandhi administration.<ref name="Sarkar ">{{Cite book| publisher = [[Indiana University Press]]| page = 490|url={{Google books|GEPYbuzOwcQC|page=PA490|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}|isbn=978-0-253-35269-9| last = Sarkar| first = Sumit|author2=Tanika Sarkar| title = Women and Social Reform in Modern India: A Reader| year = 2008}}</ref>

Gandhi questioned the continued existence of a privy purse for former rulers of princely states. She argued the case for abolition based on equal rights for all citizens and the need to reduce the government's revenue deficit. The nobility responded by rallying around the Jana Sangh and other right-wing parties that stood in opposition to Gandhi's attempts to abolish royal privileges.<ref name="Jaffrelot" /> The motion to abolish privy purses, and the official recognition of the titles, was originally brought before the Parliament in 1970. It was passed in the Lok Sabha but fell short of the two-thirds majority in the Rajya Sabha by a single vote.{{sfn|Jayakar|1997|p=214}} Gandhi responded by having a [[Presidential proclamation]] issued; de-recognising the princes; with this withdrawal of recognition, their claims to privy purses were also legally lost.{{sfn|Jayakar|1997|p=214}} However, the proclamation was struck down by the [[Supreme Court of India]].{{sfn|Jayakar|1997|p=214}} In 1971, she again motioned to abolish the privy purse and it was passed successfully as the 26th Amendment to the Constitution of India.<ref name="Jaffrelot" />

Gandhi claimed that only "clear vision, iron will and the strictest discipline" can remove poverty.<ref name="Jaffrelot" /> She justified the imposition of the state of emergency in 1975 in the name of the socialist mission of the Congress.<ref name="Jaffrelot" /> Armed with the power to rule by decree and without constitutional constraints, she embarked on a massive redistribution program.<ref name="Jaffrelot" /> The provisions included rapid enforcement of land ceilings, housing for landless labourers, the abolition of bonded labour and a moratorium on the debts of the poor.<ref name="Jaffrelot" /> [[North India]] was at the centre of the reforms. Millions of hectares of land were acquired and redistributed.<ref name="Jaffrelot" /> The government was also successful in procuring houses for landless labourers; According to [[Francine Frankel]], three-fourths of the targeted four million houses was achieved in 1975 alone.<ref name="Jaffrelot" /> Nevertheless, others have disputed the success of the program and criticised Gandhi for not doing enough to reform land ownership. The political economist, Jyotindra Das Gupta, cryptically questioned "whether or not the real supporters of land-holders were in jail or in power?"<ref name="Jaffrelot" /> Critics also accused Gandhi of choosing to "talk left and act right", referring to her concurrent pro-business decisions and endeavours.<ref name="Jaffrelot" /> [[J. Barkley Rosser Jr.]] wrote that "some have even seen the declaration of emergency rule in 1975 as a move to suppress dissent against Gandhi's policy shift to the right."<ref name="Rosser" /> Regardless of the controversy over the nature of the reforms, the long-term effects of the social changes gave rise to the prominence of middle-ranking farmers from intermediate and lower castes in North India.<ref name="Jaffrelot" /> The rise of the newly empowered social classes challenged the political establishment of the [[Hindi Belt]] in the years to come.<ref name="Jaffrelot" />