Gandhiji on rural reconstruction

46 Pages·0.306 MB·English

by  Gandhi, Mahatma

Gandhiji on VILLAGES
Selected and Compiled with an Introduction by

Divya Joshi

GANDHI BOOK CENTRE
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Nana Chowk Mumbai 400007 INDIA
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MANI BHAVAN GANDHI SANGRAHALAYA MUMBAI

Published with the financial assistance received from the Department of Culture,
Government of India.
Published with the permission of The Navajivan Trust, Ahmedabad - 380 014
First Edition 1000 copies : 2002
Set in 11/13 Point Times New Roman by Gokarn Enterprises, Mumbai
Invitation Price : Rs. 30.00
Published by
Meghshaym T. Ajgaonkar, Executive Secretary Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya
19, Laburnum Road, Gamdevi, Mumbai 400 007 Tel. No. 2380 5864, Fax. No. 2380 6239
E-mail: [email protected] and Printed at Mouj Printing Bureau, Mumbai 400 004.
Gandhiji on VILLAGES

PREFACE
Gandhiji's life, ideas and work are of crucial importance to all those who want a
better life for humankind. The political map of the world has changed dramatically
since his time, the economic scenario has witnessed unleashing of some disturbing
forces, and the social set-up has undergone a tremendous change. The importance
of moral and ethical issues raised by him, however, remain central to the future of
individuals and nations. Today we need him, more than before.
Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya has been spreading information about
Gandhiji's life and work. A series of booklets presenting Gandhiji's views on some
important topics is planned to disseminate information as well as to stimulate
questions among students, scholars, social activists and concerned citizens. We
thank Government of India, Ministry of Tourism & Culture, Department of Culture,
for their support.
Aloo Dastur
President Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya
Usha Thakkar
Hon. Secretary Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya
6Ih April 2002

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INTRODUCTION
Divya Joshi
Gandhiji firmly believed that self-reliant villages form a sound basis for a just,
equitable and non-violent order. This can be a guiding principle for all citizens,
constructive workers and policy makers in India.
After returning from South Africa Gandhiji developed his ideas on villages from his
direct experiences. He was convinced that "If the villages perish, India will perish
too. It will be no more India. Her own mission in the world will get lost."1 For him
rebuilding of the nation could be achieved only by reconstructing villages. He
himself initiated such efforts at certain places like Champaran (1917), Sevagram
(1920) and Wardha (1938). With the passage of time, he visualised an elaborate
programme of constructive work, which included economic self-reliance, social
equality and decentralized political system.
Gandhiji wanted to rebuild India from the lowest level with the poorest and the
weakest. So he gave a call to the people to go back to villages for village
reconstruction. He had visualized self-reliant villages, free from exploitation and
fear, as an important part of the decentralized system. According to him, life will
not be a pyramid with the apex sustained by the bottom. But it will be an oceanic
circle whose centre will be the individual always ready to perish for the village,
the latter ready to perish for the circle of villages, till at last the whole becomes
one life composed of individuals, never aggressive in their arrogance but ever
humble, sharing the majesty of the oceanic circle of which they are integral
units.2\
Now is the time to listen to Gandhiji's voice carefully, which says, "We are
inheritors of a rural civilization. The vastness of our country, the vastness of the
population, the situation and the climate of the country have, in my opinion,
destined it for a rural civilization... To uproot it and substitute for it an urban
civilization seems to me an impossibility."3

REFERENCES
1. Harijan, 29-8-1936; 63:241.
2. Harijan, 28-7-1946; 85:33.
3. Young India, 7-11-1929; 42:108.

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Gandhiji on VILLAGES
IDEAL VILLAGE
"That village may be regarded as reformed, where everybody wears khadi, which
produces all the khadi it needs, in which every inhabitant spends some of his time
in one or more processes relating to cotton, which uses only oil produced in
indigenous oil-presses, which consumes only jaggery manufactured in the village
itself or in its neighbourhood and only hand-milled flour and hand-pounded rice;
the village, in other words, where the largest possible number of village industries
are flourishing, in which nobody is illiterate, where the roads are clean, there is a
fixed place for evacuation, the wells are clean, there is harmony among the
different communities, and untouchability is completely absent, in which
everybody gets cow's milk, ghee etc., in moderate quantities, in which nobody is
without work, and which is free from quarrels and thefts, and in which the people
abide by the sevak's advice in all matters. This is possible in the existing
conditions. I cannot of course say about the time required."
(Letter to Munnalal Shah, 4-4-1941; 73:421)
* * *
"The villagers can make great progress if they work like this in co-operation
with one another. Ours is a small village. We should inquire and find out in which
spheres of activity and to what extent we can work on a co-operative basis. Even if
all villagers are not inclined to follow the co-operative method we must find out
those who are prepared to give it a trial. . .
"We should produce all the other necessities in the village itself. Then we
should also find out what other industries we can set up here. We ought to press
oil and make shoes locally. Similarly we can think of other industries also. . .
"We have to think about education in Sevagram. Though you have not asked
me any question on this, I may at least tell you that in my opinion there should not
be a single illiterate person in Sevagram. I put forward the concept of basic
education very late in my life but all the same I attach great importance to it. I
had put the following question before the Gujarati Sahitya Parishad : What kind of
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literature are the writers bringing out for the crores of illiterate villagers? This
task is as huge as it is difficult.
"Let me also tell you that our own life, if it is simple and pure, is bound to
have its impact on the villagers without our having to tell them in so many words."
(Speech at the prayer meeting, Sevagram, 22-10-1941; 75:43.44.)
* * *
"My idea of village swaraj is that it is a complete republic, independent of its
neighbours for its own vital wants, and yet interdependent for many others in
which dependence is a necessity. Thus every village's first concern will be to grow
its own food crops and cotton for its cloth. It should have a reserve for its cattle,
recreation and playground for adults and children. Then if there is more land
available, it will grow useful money crops, thus excluding ganja, tobacco, opium
and the like. The village will maintain a village theatre, school and public hall. It
will have its own waterworks, ensuring clean water supply. This can be done
through controlled wells or tanks. Education will be compulsory up to the final
basic course. As far as possible every activity will be conducted on the co-
operative basis. There will be no castes such as we have today with their graded
untouchability. Non-violence with its technique of satyagraha and non-co-
operation will be the sanction of the village community. There will be a
compulsory service of village guards who will be selected by rotation from the
register maintained by the village. The government of the village will be
conducted by a Panchayat of five persons annually elected by the adult villagers,
male and female, possessing minimum prescribed qualifications. These will have
all the authority and jurisdiction required. Since there will be no system of
punishments in the accepted sense, this Panchayat will be the legislature,
judiciary and executive combined to operate for its year of office. Any village can
become such a republic today without much interference even from the present
Government whose sole effective connection with the villages is the exaction of
the village revenue. I have not examined here the question of relations with the
neighbouring villages and the centre if any. My purpose is to present an outline of
village government. Here there is perfect democracy based upon individual
freedom. The individual is the architect of his own government. The law of non-
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violence rules him and his government. He and his village are able to defy the
might of a world. For the law governing every villager is that he will suffer death
in the defence of his and his village's honour.
"The reader may well ask me—I am asking myself while penning these" lines—
as to why I have not been able to model Sevagram after the picture here drawn.
My answer is: 1 am making the attempt. I can see dim traces of success though I
can show nothing visible. But there is nothing inherently impossible in the picture
drawn here. To model such a village may be the work of a lifetime. Any lover of
true democracy and village life can take up a village, treat it as his world and sole
work, and he will find good results. He begins by being the village scavenger,
spinner, watchman, medicine man and schoolmaster all at once. If nobody comes
near him, he will be satisfied with scavenging and spinning."
(Harijan, 26-7-1942; 76:308-9.)
* * *
"My idea of self-sufficiency is that villages must be self- sufficient in regard to
food, cloth and other basic necessities. But even this can be overdone. Therefore
you must grasp my idea properly. Self-sufficiency does not mean narrowness. To be
self-sufficient is not to be altogether self-contained. In no circumstances would we
be able to produce all the things we need nor do we aim at doing so. So though our
aim is complete self-sufficiency, we shall have to get from outside the village what
we cannot produce in the village; we shall have to produce more of what we can in
order thereby to obtain in exchange what we are unable to produce. Only nothing
of our extra produce would be sent to Bombay or far off cities. Nor would we
produce things with an eye to export to those cities. That would run counter to my
conception of swadeshi. Swadeshi means serving my immediate neighbour rather
than those far away.
"Our outlook must be that we would serve the village first, then the
neighbourhood, then the district and thereafter the province."
(Discussion with Shrikrishnadas Jaju, 10-10-1944; 78:171.)
* * *
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"My ideal village still exists only in my imagination. After all every human
being lives in the world of his own imagination. In this village of my dreams the
villager will not be dull—he will be all awareness. He will not live like an animal in
filth and darkness. Men and women will live in freedom, prepared to face the
whole world. There will be no plague, no cholera and no smallpox. Nobody will be
allowed to be idle or to wallow in luxury. Everyone will have to do body labour.
Granting all this, I can still envisage a number of things that will have to be
organized on a large scale. Perhaps there will even be railways and also post and
telegraph offices. I do not know what things there will be or will not be. Nor am I
bothered about it. If I can make sure of the essential thing, other things will follow
in due course. But if I give up the essential thing, I give up everything."
(Letter to Jawaharlal Nehru, 5-10-1945; 81:320.)
* * *
1. The crucial question according to you, is how to ensure man's mental,
economic, political and moral development. That is my position too.
2. And in doing so every individual should have equal right and opportunity.
3. From this point of view there should be equality between villages and cities.
And therefore their food and drink, their way of life, their dress and their
habits should be the same. If such a condition is to be brought about people
should produce their own cloth and food and build their own houses. So also
they should produce their own water and electricity.
4. Man is not born to live in the jungle; he is born to live in society. If we are
to make sure that one person does not ride on an other's back, the unit
should be an ideal village or a social group which will be self-sufficient, but
the members of which will be interdependent. This conception will bring
about a change in human relationship all over the world."
(Letter to Jawaharlal Nehru, 13-11-1945; 82:72.)
* * *

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"Independence must begin at the bottom. Thus, every village will be a
republic or panchayat having full powers. It follows, therefore, that every village
has to be self-sustained and capable of managing its affairs even to the extent of
defending itself against the whole world. It will be trained and prepared to perish
in the attempt to defend itself against any onslaught from without."
(Harijan, 28-7-1946; 85:32.)
* * *
"A village unit as conceived by me is as strong as the strongest. My imaginary
village consists of 1,000 souls. Such a unit can give a good account of itself, if it is
well organized on a basis of self-sufficiency. Do not, therefore, think that unless
you have a big union you will not be able to give a good account of yourself. . .
"... I have conceived round the village as the centre a series of ever-widening
circles, not one on top of the other, but all on the same plane, so that there is
none higher or lower than the other. Maine has said that India was a congerie of
village republics. The towns were then subservient to the villages. They were
emporia for the surplus village products and beautiful manufactures. That is the
skeleton of my picture to serve as a pattern for Independent India. There are many
faults in the ancient village system. Unless they are eradicated, there will not only
be no hope for the untouchables in a free India but for India in the comity of
nations."
(Harijan, 4-8-1946; 85:79.)
* * *

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VILLAGE AND NON-VIOLENCE
"I expect to convert the zamindars and other capitalists by the non-violent
method, and therefore there is for me nothing like an inevitability of class
conflict. For it is an essential part of nonviolence to go along the line of least
resistance. The moment the cultivators of the soil realize their power, the
zamindari evil will be sterilized. What can the poor zamindar do when they say
that they will simply not work the land unless they are paid enough to feed and
clothe and educate themselves and their children in a decent manner? In reality
the toiler is the owner of what he produces. If the toilers intelligently combine,
they will become an irresistible power. That is how I do not see the necessity of
class conflict. If I thought it inevitable I should not hesitate to preach it and teach
it."
(Harijan, 5-12-1936; 64:73.)
* * *
"Cast off the cloak of foreign thoughts and ideals, identify yourselves with the
villagers. The Western world is giving us destructive knowledge; we want to impart
constructive education through non-violence."
(Harijan, 30-4-1938; 67:36.)
* * *
"If the worker going to the village has no faith in nonviolence, our work must
fail. If he concerns himself with economics alone and disregards ethics and
morality, all our efforts are of no avail. Non-violence is the basis on which our
work is to be built. It will not do to ignore it. In the initial stages people might
achieve something even without it but ultimately the edifice of swaraj will not be
raised without the foundation of ahimsa.
(Speech at All India Spinners' Association meeting, Sevagram, 1-9-1944; 78:63.)
* * *

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"There are some big men who hold this view. They think that the teaching of
non-violence has proved disastrous. They believe that the way of the spinning-
wheel would only take us back to the medieval ages. They think the same of
village industries and Nayee Talim. Could it not be that there was something
basically wrong with me which led me to have a misguided view of things all
through? However, my views are the same as they have always been."
(A letter, 14-4-1947; 87:278.)
* * *
"Whatever effect is produced there will be the fruit of ahimsa. Without ahimsa
village uplift seems impossible to me."
(Letter to Manibhai Desai, 11-12-1947; 90:210.)
* * *

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