SUBJECT: POLITICAL SCIENCE I COURSE: BA LLB SEMESTER I TEACHER: MS. DEEPIKA GAHATRAJ MODULE: MODULE VII,

Structure: Gandhian concept of

GANDHIAN CONCEPT OF SARVODAYA It was Mahatma who first used the word Sarvodaya in modern times. Etymologically speaking, Sarvodaya means ‘the rise or welfare of all’. Gandhiji borrowed this concept from ’s Unto This Last. The proper rendering of Unto This Last would be Antyodaya (uplift of the last) rather than Sarvodaya.

The main tenets of the Sarvodaya philosophy as propounded by Gandhiji and subsequently explained by the pioneers of this movement are as follows: 1. Sarvodaya reiterates belief in God and, further, it identifies that belief with faith in the goodness of man and with services, of humanity.

2. It attaches importance to the principle of as implying the abolition of private ownership and the application of the principle of non-possession to public institutions.3. Sarvodaya envisages a new humanistic socialist society. Man will be the centre of such a society. Unless man cultivates values like love, sincerity, truth, an abiding sympathy etc., the emergence of a new society would only remain a pious dream. In this process of change the State has little role to play. The State, at best, can effect change at the level of the external behaviour of man. It fails to influence the inner springs of life. This mental transformation is only possible through appeal and persuasion.

4. Sarvodaya visualises a simple, non-violent and decentralised society. In capitalism and state socialism the individual becomes alone and isolated. Sarvodaya is opposed to both. In the scheme of Sarvodaya the people are endowed with real power. Democracy becomes meaningful and assumes significance only when its structure is reared on the foundation of village Panchayats.

The Sarvodaya movement inculcates this democratic awareness among the people especially among the ruralites. Again in the scheme of Sarvodaya decentralisation of industry takes place through the organisation of small-scale, cottage and village industries. The reason is not far to seek.

1 In a country like India where there is acute shortage of capital and abundance of labour, any attempt at industrialisation through high technology is doomed to failure. Moreover, the decentralisation of production would prevent bureaucratisation of the economic system.

5. Sarvodaya idea contains the content of egalitarianism. It rests on the principle of true equality and liberty. It stands opposed to exploitation of any kind.

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