DECENTRALISATION

Introduction
• Decentralization definition is “the dispersion or distribution of functions and powers”.
• Now we are hearing about decentralized currency, like all types of so-called crypto currency.
• Decentralized computer networks like torrents. (Aaron Swartz - Internet’s own boy)
• Centralized organizations causes economic and political inequality and be a main cause for human
exploitation.
• Even centralized military power caused military leaders to go greedy and coup the government and
cause for political unrest. E.g. Pakistan(it had four successful and three unsuccessful coups latest in
1999 by Musharraf) and in recent times in Myanmar, American - surveillance program, Soviet-
irrigation - Aral sea.
• Indian is the largest producer of milk in the world, but we don’t have large companies.
• Gandhi has intended to alter the evil political, social and economic systems of the people.
• He said that, every individual should acquire the capacity to resist the abuse of power.
• Bertrand Russell(British philosopher) on Gandhian decentralization: “In those parts of the world in
which industrialism is still young, the possibility of avoiding the horrors we have experienced still
exists. India, for example is traditionally a land of village communities. It would be a tragedy if this
traditional way of life with all its evils were to be suddenly and violently exchanged for the greater
evils of industrialism and they would apply to people whose standard of living is already pitifully
low”.
 Introduction
• Mahatma Gandhi struggled to inculcate the sense of self-respect, self-confidence and self-
reliance to promote the power of decision-making among the people.
• Large-scale industrialism is at the base of the centralization of political power in few hands.
It is in the very nature of large-scale industries to centralize economic power in the hands
of a few individuals. Under capitalism this power comes to be concentrated in the hands of
individual capitalists and under socialism it is arrogated by managers, technocrats and
bureaucrats.
• The centralization of power in the State negates the very conception of democracy. This is
why Gandhi did not favor the so-called democracy in the West. In his view, Western
democracy was only formal. In reality it was totalitarian in so far as only a few could enjoy
the political power in this system.
• Marx attacked the system of ownership in his humanistic zeal. But he left the technique of
production altogether untouched. Gandhi focused his attention on the technique also. He
suggested that large-scale technique should give way to small-scale technique. This,
therefore, forms the core of his decentralization theory.
• He did not want to be reborn, yet if he had to be, "I should be born an untouchable so that
I may… endeavor to free myself and them from that miserable condition.“
 Political Decentralization
• Non-violence is the main concept of Gandhian decentralization.
• Exploitation is the main cause of violence, it becomes a reality when power was
concentrated in a single body like state.
• He believed that a state represents violence in undiluted and organised form.
• To avoid violence, accumulation power must be avoided through decentralisation of power
from state.
• Centralisation as a system is inconsistent with the non-violent structure of society.
• The state represented an organisation based on force it manifested its power from
exploitation of its people.
• According to Gandhi, decentralization of political power is the basic requirement for the
success of true democracy.
• It is the only way to realize the value of democracy from the grassroots level as it will
enable the people to participate in taking and implementing decisions without a rigid and
strict control of any higher authority.
 Political Decentralization
• Gandhi is opposed to all kinds of concentration of power; he says centralization is a menace and danger to
democracy. Concentration of power in his view distorts all democratic values. So he thought that “possession of
power makes men blind and deaf; they can not see things which are under their very nose, and can not hear things
which invade their ears.”
• He argued in favor of stateless society it was the concept of enlightened anarchy
• Non violent state with the evolution of village republics.
• Village swaraj, village self-rule, every village must be an independent and self contained unit in itself.
• He want villages to be autonomous and self sustained, that doesn’t mean isolation, he want village to be a
republics with self rule and neighbouring villages must help each other when necessity arises.
• Every government in the world may follow different ideology but the structure is same the pyramid, i.e. the power
flows from top to bottom, he want to alter that structure.
• In his structure of government individuals comes first then village then group of villages.
• Education, Recreation, Protection, Agriculture, Industries, Trade and Commerce, Sanitation and Medical Relief,
Justice, Finance and Taxation these are the functions of the village panchayat.
• The values like non violence, individual freedom, equality have given solid base to mahatma Gandhi's concept of
decentralisation of pollical power.
• Ahimsa, Satyagraha, Swaraj, Swadeshi, Sarvodaya all are the instrument to achieve decentralized political structure.
• In the state of Gandhian enlightened anarchy, there is no place for injustice, immoral actions, any kind of variations
based on caste or religion, possessions or non-possessions, sex etc.
 Economic decentralization

• He is not an economist but his economic ideas are based on the foundation that
exploitation makes root of all violence, he built his ideas in such a manner that avoids
exploitation of man by man.
• To do away with the concentration of economic power by proposing economic
decentralisation at various levels of power hierarchy.
• Economic centralisation leads to concentration of population in cities and leading to many
problems of urbanisation like gangs, thief's, pollution, low standard of living(slums)
violence and crime.
• Centralisation will cause economic inequalities and wealth gap and exploitation of low
wage workers.
• He is not against machinery he is against exploitation of workers in the name of wealth
accumulation. e.g. China.
• He aimed not in elimination of machines but in its limitation
• He objected to use the use of machinery as an instrument of greed.
 Economic decentralization

• He favoured decentralisation in both economic and political spheres.

• Gandhiji advocated for village self-sufficiency so that villages could not dependent upon
others at least for their general needs.
• It is built on economic equality, dignity of labor and distributive power.
• Gandhian economics were meant to setup swaraj and Sarvodaya in society and
characterized by simplicity, self sufficiency and self reliance.
• Gandhi’s economic ideas developed from his political and moral principles such as swaraj,
Sarvodaya, truth, trusteeship and non-violence.
• He had a view that economics can’t be divided from morals.