International Journal of , Commerce and Research (IJECR) ISSN(P): 2250-0006; ISSN(E): 2319-4472 Vol. 4, Issue 4, Dec 2014, 25-30 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.

RELEVANCE OF GANDHIAN ECONOMICS OF MODERN TIMES

INDIRA MOHAN NAIR Professor, Shiv Shrishti Complwa, May Flower, Sai Section , Maharashtra,

ABSTRACT

Due to increasing income inequalities which widens the gap between the rich and the poor, growing incidence of poverty associated with liberalization, privatization and globalization, Gandhiji’s economic philosophy appears to be relevant for ever in this materialistic, agnostic and consumerist culture. His thoughts and economic ideas can be adopted in this 21st.

The Gandhian Economics continues to be relevant in the context of sustainable development. If we closely examine his economic philosophy it is found that sustainability is the core of his economic thought which appears to be a best, alternative and viable model of development in the recent years. In the 21st indispensable to the development of human civilization due to limited resources. This concept of bread labour advocates the people to be self sufficient and it strengthens the notion of sustainable development. If all people do labour for their bread, there will be no rich and poor and inequality will be reduced. Therefore, the need of the hour is to follow the Gandhiji’s concept of bread labour to achieve self sufficiency and social justice.

His concept of Gram clearly implied that each village should be self-reliant by making provisions of all necessities of life such as food, clothing, clean water, housing, sanitation, education etc. Gandhiji was in favour of empowerment of women. He encouraged women to join politics with man and also wanted women to be independent of their thinking. Gandhian Economics stressed on development of cottage and rural industries for better use of labour and of small units of production. He was not in favour of large scale industralisation which is responsible for many socio-economic evils. After almost 64 years of martyrdom, Gandhiji is now more relevant on global level than before. The need of the hour is to implement his deeds, actions unquestionable and unchallengeable. Century to solve the current puzzle of development syndrome of the country.

KEYWORDS: Sustainable Development, Self Sufficiency and Bread Labour, Gram Swaraj and Rural Development, Empowerment of Women and Economic Development, Cottage Industry and Labour Welfare

INTRODUCTION

The need of the hour is to strive hard to adopt Gandhiji’s methods to meet the challenges of present day with earnestness and perseverance. M.K., an epitome of truth, sacrifice and spirituality taught us not only truth and non violence but also economics principle for sustainable development, food problem, labour welfare, exchange economy. Due to increasing income inequalities which widens the gap between the rich and the poor, growing incidence of poverty associated with liberalization, privatization and globalization, Gandhiji’s economic philosophy appears to be relevant for ever in this materialistic, agnostic and consumerist culture. His thoughts and economic ideas can be adopted in this 21 st century to solve the current puzzle of development syndrome of the country. The United nation’s resolution to commemorate Gandhiji’s birthday as the International Day for Non-violence is a big tribute and recognition of the www.tjprc.org [email protected] 26 Indira Mohan Nair relevance of Gandhian Economic Philosophy throughout the world.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

• To highlight the economic ideas developed by Gandhiji in three phases.

• Gandhiji’s view on sustainable development and its relevance in present time.

• Gandhiji’s opinion on bread labour and self sufficiency.

• The role of Gram Swaraj and rural development.

• To probe the relationship between empowerment of women and economic development.

• To analyse the importance of cottage industry in promoting labour welfare.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The study is purely based on secondary sources. The information for this study is collected from books, journals and magazines.

Phases and Principles of Gandhian Economic Thought

Economic ideas developed by Gandhiji can be looked in three phases.

• Negative phase up to 1919: Gandhiji criticized western pattern of development which was more materialistic in nature and adopted a non-materialistic approach.

• Positive Phase from 1919 to 1934: Gandhiji echoed an alternative to the western pattern of development and laid stress to the ideal of Swadeshi.

• The Constructive phase from 1934 to 1948: Gandhiji developed a constructive programme for village regeneration through the ideal of .

Gandhiji considered human beings as wealth and considered a country to be rich if it has the greatest number of happy individuals. In his economic thought man occupied a prominent position than wealth. He was of the opinion that economics should aim at material and progress of the society by producing and increasing wealth along with social justice. Gandhiji considered economics as a practical science which should aim at maximizing human welfare.

Sustainable Development

The Gandhian Economics continues to be relevant in the context of sustainable development. If we closely examine his economic philosophy it is found that sustainability is the core of his economic thought which appears to be a best, alternative and viable model of development in the recent years. In the 21 st century sustainable development is indispensable to the development of human civilization due to limited resources. Gandhiji warned the society not to exploit the natural resources beyond its capacity. This can be justified from his concept of and Cottage industry and limited use of clothes and natural resources. He talked about environmental conservation which is reflected in entire economic philosophy similar to sustainable development. He was of the opinion that there is enough on earth for the need of every body but not enough for the greed of every body. Gandhiji advised the people of India to contain their greed and allow future generation to taste the fruit of real development. His economic philosophy was against the consumerist culture to

Impact Factor (JCC): 4.2234 Index Copernicus Value (ICV): 3.0 Relevance of Gandhian Economics of Modern Times 27 save the mother earth from dangerous phenomenon which can be termed as sustainable development. Dr. E.F. Schumacher author of the classic critique on modern economics, Small is Beautiful, who called Gandhi the greatest people’s economist say “Gandhi abhorred the industrial civilization because it was based on callous exploitation of non-renewable resources. It made bodily welfare the sole object of life, which reduced man to nothing but a clever animal”.

Self Sufficiency and Bread Labour

The Law of Bread Labour states that man must earn his bread by his own labour. Gandhi not only preached but also practiced this concept of bread labour in his South African day. He was inspired by and even Peter Kropotkin the Russian anarchist.

The economic philosophy of Gandhiji stated that the Law of Bread Labour is related to agriculture only. If all people do labour for their bread, there will be enough food and clothing for all. This will keep them healthier and happier and there will be no problem of food shortage and any disease and misery. So, he stressed on physical labour and he advised the rich people to do bodily labour for their bread.

This concept of bread labour advocates the people to be self sufficient and it strengthens the notion of sustainable development. If all people do labour for their bread, there will be no rich and poor and inequality will be reduced. Therefore, the need of the hour is to follow the Gandhiji’s concept of bread labour to achieve self sufficiency and social justice. The development programmes of India have seriously failed in terms of regional disparity, population explosion and unsustainable environment. The lopsided development models of India has resulted mass unemployment and poor quality of rural life leading to large scale migration. Gandhiji advocated a decentralized model of development and sustainable agriculture which has lot of relevance for economic development of India.

Gram Swaraj and Rural Development

The concept of Gram Swaraj developed by Gandhiji was actually realized when decentralization of power was made to empower Gram Panchayat after the 73 rd Constitutional Amendment Act. Gandhian economics clearly stated that every village should be its own republic which is independent of its neighbours for own vital wants and interdependent for many others. This concept came out in the writings of Gandhiji in 1942. His concept of Gram Swaraj clearly implied that each village should be self-reliant by making provisions of all necessities of life such as food, clothing, clean water, housing, sanitation, education etc.

If we closely look at Indian Planning it can be observed that all plans have tried to realize Gandhiji;s concept of Gram Swaraj particularly after 1970 through various development programmes. The Bharat Nirman Yojana to deal with rural India is sincere effort made to follow the principle of Gandhiji. It ends up building a strong rural India by strengthening the infrastructure in six areas such as irrigation, rural water supply, rural housing, rural roads, rural telephone and rural electrification. The economic ideas of Gandhiji were also reflected in the historic Rural Employment Guarantee Act of September 2005. The Governemnt programme of strengthening the capacity of Gram Sabha for better rural governance was the original idea reflected in Gandhian Economics. This reaffirms the relevance of Gandhian Economics because India is still looking ahead to achieve the target set by Gandhiji in his model of Gram Swaraj.

Empowerment of Women and Economic Development

Gandhiji was of the view that economic development can be achieved only if women are empowered which is

www.tjprc.org [email protected] 28 Indira Mohan Nair evident form his writings, “ of all evils for which man has made himself responsible, none is degrading, so shocking or so brutal as his abuse of the better half of humanity to me, the female sex, but not the weaker sex. ”He was strongly in favour of women education and giving them all freedom which men enjoy. He stated that a country in which women are not honoured cannot be considered as civilized. Gandhiji encouraged women to join politics with man and also wanted women to be independent of their thinking. Gandhiji had many plans to rescue the women folk from the clutches of patriarchal caste ridden thinking of Indian male bastion. He had a very progressive thinking which is relevant to the contemporary problems of Indian women.

Cottage Industry and Labour Welfare

Gandhian Economics stressed on development of cottage and rural industries for better use of labour and decentralization of small units of production. Since every Indian needed cloth of at least 13 yards per year he emphasized in development of Khadi Industry which refers to decentralization of production and distribution for the necessaries of human life. He believed that Khadi industry will save millions of people from starvation and would supplement the earning of the poor people. He advocated the use of Charakha which is simple in operation with small amount of capital. He was not in favour of large scale industralisation which is responsible for many socio-economic evils. Gandhiji wanted to promote labour intensive techniques of production for generating employment for rural people. This economic philosophy of Gandhiji has lot of relevance to present day economic problems of India.

CONCLUSIONS

Gandhiji was a perpetual moral rebel who called for organized movement against imperialistic, virulence, social exploitation, economic oppression and slavery to immoral propensities. At a time when thinkers in the realm of philosophies and social sciences are trying to take stock of the Eastern Heritage and Western Thought, Gandhiji stands as a sybbol of the conjunction of the East ahd the West. The service of Gandhiji is awakening the soul of Asia and Africa is of immense importance. Ho-Chi-Minh and have testified to the inspirations of the leaders and activists of the two continents Asia and Africa, receiving in their work from trials, sufferings and teachings of Mahatma. Even the Negro liberationists in North America under the leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King II received inspiration from him.

In the twenty first century, Gandhiji is a world phenomenon. The world knows that Dr. Martin Luther King II, Lekh Walesa, Nelson Mandela, Ho-Chi-Minh, Yung-Su-Ky and a host of geniuses of the world have followed the footprints of the great Mahatma. In 1981, 83 Noble Prize Winner’s men and women of both the hemisphere warned us of an unprecedented holocaust, encompassing all the horrors of exterminations and extending the frontiers of barbarism and death. Strange enough, they all unanimously look to one man Gandhiji and his non-violent action to fight fundamental battle of human rights-the right to life.

After almost 64 years of martyrdom, Gandhiji is now more relevant on global level than before. Specially, after 9 /11 of 2001, the terrorist attacks on Twin Tower World Trade Centre and Pentagon buildings of the USA, Gandhiji is remembered more with reverence than mere casually. He is being recognized as a great leader of action, a Liberator and a Prophet Martyr all over the Universe. The need of the hour is to implement his deeds, actions and thoughts into practice and thus, his relevance in different fields is Unquestionable and unchallengeable. For the survival of human being, it is imperative on out part to act upon his advice because only on his relevance, we shall survive together or if we fail in our venture, we are bound to perish together.

Impact Factor (JCC): 4.2234 Index Copernicus Value (ICV): 3.0 Relevance of Gandhian Economics of Modern Times 29

REFERENCES

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6. Paul. R. R. (1996), History of Economic Thought , Kalyani Publisher, New Delhi.

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