How Lal Bahadur earned the title ‘Shastri’ and other lesser-known facts

Lal Bahadur Shastri, the second prime minister of India, was born on 2 October 1904 in Uttar Pradesh's Mughalsarai.

During his school years, he could effortlessly cross River Ganga numerous times each day.

In 1925, he graduated from Kashi Vidyapeeth in Varanasi and was given the title “Shastri”. The term stands for "scholar" or “someone skilled in the holy scriptures”.

Shastri was appointed Minister of Police and Transport on 15 August 1947. He was also the first to deploy water jets rather than a lathi charge to scatter crowds.

The first women bus conductors were hired under his administration.

Shastri stepped down from his position as minister of transportation for railroads, blaming himself for a fatal train accident.

After India's 1962 conflict with China ended in defeat, Shastri’s tenure as prime minister helped the country recover.

Shastri did not collect his pay during the 1965 Indo-Pak conflict when the nation was experiencing a food shortage.

The leader was the driving force behind India's white and green revolutions, which contributed to higher milk output. Creating the National Dairy Development Board and assisting the Amul milk cooperative in Gujarat are only a couple of examples.

Shastri passed away in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on 11 January 1966, just one day after the 1965 Indo-Pakistan War's peace deal was signed.

In 1966, he won the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour, posthumously.