MODULE 7: GANDHJAN MODEL OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Introduction:

Mahatma Gandhi as a visionaiy of India, had a very clear perception of its villages
and made an emphatic assertion that '1ndia lives in her seven and half lakhs of villages'. Ile
further believed that India will have to live in villages, not in towns, in huts not in palaces. He
held this conviction by saying that "If village perishes, India will perish too. Gandhi, played
the leading role in securing for India political independence from the British Raj, through
organizing and mobilizing Indian people from all walks of life in a peaceful and non-violent
manner. He is therefore rightly called the 'Father of the Nation'. Gandhiji's approach to
India's rural development was holistic and people-centred. It was rooted in his conviction in
the tenets of truth, non-violence and the goodness of human-beings. Influenced as he was by
Tolstoy, Ruskin and the teachings of the Gita, he placed more emphasis on moral and
spi1itual values than economic motives as a means of overall development. He found that the
progress of the country lies in the development of majority of its rural villages, develop rural
economy, industry and rmal skills. Gandhiji found the only way of bringing hope of good
living tO the rural people is by making the village the central place in the economic
programme Rural development as outlined by Ganl~i contained self-sufficiency, inter-
dependence for other wants and development of Village Industries. He wanted to bring about
rural reconstruction with sow1d scientific and spirit:ual values. 11-rrough his 18-point
Constructive Programme, Gandhiji successfully implemented his 1wal reconstruction
activities in Sevagram Centre near Wardha in 193 5.

Gandhian Dream oflndian Villages:

Gandhiji's ideal village belongs to the pre-British period, when Indian villages were
the small republics undisturbed by the periodical visitations of barbarous hordes . This
republican character of the villages was destroyed by the British rule. TI1crefore, in Gandhian
plan of nm,l reconstruction, the ancient republican village without any kind of exploitation
served as a model unit3. Ganwi aimed at the attainment of Village Swaraj and said in 1942,

"My idea of Village Swaraj is tlw1 it is a co111plele republic, independent of its

neighbours for its own vital wants and gel inter-depe11cle11t for many others in which
dependence is a necessity. Thus eve,y villages'first concern will be to gro,v its own food crop
 recreation and playg round /or
and cotton .for its cloth. ft could have a reser ve/or its cattle,
will grow useful money crops,
adults and children. Then if there is more land available, ~t
village will maintain a village
thus excluding ganga, tobacco, opium and the /Ike. The
ensuring clean water suppl".
theatre, school and public hall. It will have its own water works

of industrialization in
Gandhiji ft1lly w,derstood the consequence of western type
destroy the Indian society
India. He was conscious of the fuct that far industrialization would
to improvement. The once
by eliminating our decentralized rural industries and further leads
d progressively. He wanted
self-sufficient and self-contained rural villages have been draine
based on sound scientific and
to reverse this trend and bring about a rnral reconstruction
spiritual values. He said,

will not live in dirt and

"my deal village will contain intelligent human beings. They
their own against anyon e
darkn ess as animals. Men and women will be .free and able to hold
smal! pox, none will be idle, no
in the world. There will be neither plague nor cholera nor
quota of manu al labO W. .. . . .
one will wallow in luxury. Evety one will have to contribute his
like'
It is possible to envisage railways, post and telegraphs and the

swaraj and swadeshi

Gandhian strategy of rmal reconstruction was based on village
by Gandhiji are trusteeship,
movement. The basic principle of village swaraj as outlined
ralisation, equality, N ai
swadeshi, full employment, bread labour, self..sufficiency, decent
was a comprehensive one,
Talim etc. Thus the idea of ideal village of Gandhian dream
dimensions. Gandhiji gave
encompassing the economic, social political and educational
and said, "the swaraj of my
emphasis on truth and non-violence in eve1y aspect of h1unan life
swaraj has got to be won,
opinion will come only when all us are fomly persuaded that otu·
worked and maintained through truth and ahimsa alonen.

Values Underlying of' this Mode l

ing values and premises

The Gandhian Model of rw·al development is based on the follow

1. Rural India is fo und not in its cities, but in its villages.

are exploited no more.
2. The revival of villages is possible only when the villagers
iji's opinion.
Exploitation of villagers by city dwellers was 'violence' in Gandh
ion of materialistic wants,
3. Simple living and high thinking, implying volw1ta1y reduct
and pursuit of moral and spilitua I princip lcs of life.
 e must earn his bread by physical labour , and one who
4. Dignity of labom : eve1yon
labow·s must necessarily get his subsistence.
ns.
S. Performance to the use of indigenous (swadesh1) products , services and institutio
means : Gandhiji believed that non-viol ence and
6 . Balance between the ends and the
w-,s
truth could not be sustained wlless a balance between the ends and the means
maintained.

Principal Compon ents of the Model

The Principal compone nts ofthe Gandhian Model are discusse d in below in brief

Self-suff icient Village Eco110111y

ss or
Gandhiji's concept of self-sufficiency was not a narrow one, nor was it that of selfishne
the village,
atTOgance. He realized the need for villagers to get those things from outside
which they could not produce in the village.

ed by
Gandhiji insisted on the selFsuffzciency of Indian villages. Selj:sujj iciency was advocat
is the
him as a basic principle of life because dependence brings in exploita tion which
and the
essence of violence. The poor is exploited by the rich, the village by the city
undeveloped count,y by the develope d ones due to lack of self-suff iciency"

food,
He suggeste d that vii/ages should be se/j~sL!fficient i.e. they should produce their own
on. the
clothing and other articles needed for meeting their basic needs. He insisted
provide
promotio n of village or cottage industries and handicra fts because they can
self-
employment, necessa ,y to meet the basic needs of the villagers and also facilitat e village
suf/icienc.

ed by they
Gandhiji said that it was not the British rule but the modem civilizat ion nourish
yment. He
rule, which was the real cause of economic, distress i.e., poverty and unemplo
on modem
further said, "{( the British rule were replaced tomorro1V by the Indian rule based
n in the
methods, India would be no better". "Agains t this, he envisage d India's salvatio
nce of
revival of its ancient civilization which prescrib es for man the path of duty and observa
rnorality"

basis of
Gandhiji's self-suffi cient and non-viol ent village society could only be built on the
in the
co-operation and not on conflict. Accordi ng to him as far as possible , every activity
 re, Gan dhij i
tive basis. Even in the field of agri cultu
village will be cond ucte d on co-o pera
and p rovide
h wou ld save labour, capital, tool s
reco mme nded co-o pera tive farm ing vvhic
mus t atte mpt to
incr ease prod ucti on also . He said , "we
emp loym ent to all adul t Villagers and
farm ing" .
enco urag e peop le to take to co-o pera tive
prev entf urth er.fr agm enta tion of land and
ntai n goo d
necessa1y in orde r to help soci ety to mai
He note d that whe n depe nden ce beco mes
beco mes co- oper atio n.
orde r it is no long er depe nden ce but it

Dec entr alis atio n

should be the
s with mental and moral deve lopm ent
Gandhiji believed that human happines
ntralization of
goal should be achieved th.rough dece
supreme goal of society, and that th.is
political and economic pow ers.
ntralisation of
blics can be built only through dece
Gandhi finnly believes that village repu
vest ed in the
system decision-making pow er will be
social and political pow er. 1n such a
es would
and the national capital. The representativ
Village Panc haya t rather than in the State
es wou ld
d of five years. The elected representativ
be elected by all adults for a fixed perio
t.
constitute a coLD1cil, called the Panchaya
look after
utive and judic ial functions. It would
The Panchayat exercises legislative, exec
onsibility to
village. It would be the Panc haya ts resp
education, health and sanitation of the
n App roac h to
ect and uplift 'unto ucha bles ' and othe r poor peop le. Reso urce s for Gan dhia
prot
d from the villages.
managing village affairs would be raise
as poss ible not
reso lved within the village. And as fur
All the conflicts and disputes would be
ld play its role
outs ide the village. The Panc haya t wou
a single case is to be referred to cotuts
ites for bringing
l and spiritual values amo ng the rmal
in prop agating the impo1tance of mora
abou t rural reco nstruction.

defending itself
the village would also be capa ble of
Apart from managing its own affairs
nise d to defe nd
e brigade of volunteers would be orga
against any invas ion. A non-violent peac
. The y wou ld
rent from the usual milita1y formation
the village. 1l1is corp s would be diffe
and God .
repose the utmo st faith in non-viole nce
Pa11chayati Raj
re the village
that each village in India would be a republic, whe
Gandhiji envisaged
defense. He expe cted
er of managing its affairs, including
panchayat would have the full pow
tions nece ssar y for
lative, executive and judicial func
the panc haya t to perf onn the legis
such as edu cation,
omy. Various dev e lopmental activities
smo oth functions of the village econ
The vehicle that was
take n up by the village panchayat.
health and sanitation wou ld also be
sroo ts leve l was the
and econ omi c dem ocra cy at the gras
most ideal to initiate both political
try reinforced his
Gandhi's tours all acro ss the coun
Pan chay at Raj syst em Mah atm a
Village Pan chay ats
ns that Indi a wou ld bene fit if the villages wer e gov erne d by
convictio
e village republics
living and high thinking". The se wer
base d on the principal of "simple
want. The se wer e the
reliant and having a ll that peo ple
which wer e self -con tain ed and self-
hum an beings. An
of living could be acco rded to all
institutions whe re minimum stan dard
lity to the grea test
opportunity to dev elop his pers ona
individual had maximum free dom and
s of dem ocra cy
ln thes e repu b lics ther e wou ld be a dim inution of the state and the root
extent.
em without adeq uate
lization cannot be sustained as a syst
deep ened . Acc ordi ng to him centra
force. 2
elec ted annually.
affairs are to be man aged by Pan c hayats consisting of five pers ons
The
ple are exp ecte d to
centre of the local administration. Peo
Gandhi aimed at the individual the
deli bera te prob lem s of
in large mu-nbers at the meeting to
take pers onal inte rest and turn up
n and planning.
inte rest such as village indu stries, agricultural production, obligatio
com mon
mad e panc haya ti raj
is goo d, and in conf orm ity with Gandhiji's views, that India now has
It
ent Act, 1992. It is
ing the 73 (Constitution) Am endm
rd
institutions staM ory bod ies by pass
chay ats wou ld now
l self- gov erna nce through village pan
hop e that Gan dhij i's drea m of loca
be fulfi lied .

/(ha di and Vill age Ind ustr ies

and distribution of
Gan dhiji , khad i was an instr ume nt of decentralization of prod ucti on
For
ured the prom otio n of
basi c nece ssiti es of life, a nd of ensuring 'wo rk to all'. He also favo
the
ing, pap er making,
grinding, ha nd pounding, sop mak
othe r village industiies, such as hand
man ua l labow· and
ing, etc. He adv ocat ed the use of
mental making, oilseed crus hing, tann
n n labo ur. But he
the intJ·o duct ion of rnac hinc d, fearing that they wou ld disp lace hwr
opp osed
genous, and did not
logies if they wer e app rop1iate , indi
appr ecia ted the role of new techno
stan dard of living.
effect the level of emp loym ent and
 ies of
Khadi mentality means decentralization of producti on and distribution of the necessar
lire. Khadi has to play an important role in the village economy of India. lt can
fi.tlfil the
es.
poor's three basic necessities: cloth, work and self-conf idence to aiticulate themselv

ent of the
Gandhiji consider ed Khadi as an inevitable means for the all-round developm
eating, so it is
Nation. He said in 1921, "Just as we cannot live without breathing and without
this ancient
impossible for us to attain economic independ ence and banish pauperis m from
as a necessity
land without reviving home-spinning. 1 holds the spinning wheel to be as much
solve the
in eve1y househo ld as the hea1th. No other scheme that can be devised will ever
problem of the deepenin g poverty of the people.

In 1934 Gandhij wrote in Harijan, "Khadi is the sw1 of the village solar system The planets
e they
are the various industties which can support Khadi in return for the heat and substanc
the revival of
derive from it. Without it, the other industJies cannot grow . .. and also without
to occupy
the other industJies, khadi could not make further progress. For, villagers to be able
their spare time profitably, the village life must be touched at all points."

of
Accordin g to Gandhij~ Khadi alone can solve a number of economic and other problems
India as shown below

of
i) Under Khadi economy, the capital is under the control of the labour and suprema cy
man over machine ry can be established

will
ii) Each village can be self-sufficient through the welfare of these villages, India
also prosper.

which
iii) The villagers can take up all the stages of Khadi production for earning wages
can supplement their meagre resow-ces.

ths,
iv) Spinning wheel give employment opportunities to village carpente rs, Blacksmi
Weavers and can create self-sufficiency in all villages in India. Khadi alone can
give encourag ement to other village industJ·ies.

With the
v) Spinning is an honow-ablc and leistu·cly occupation for the women of lndia.
popularization of spinning wheel, women need not go out of their houses for
earning their bread.
 L

vi) Khadi industiy has great organizing potentialities in lndia. Millions of people are
involved in production, distribution and consumption of K.hadi.

vii) Spinning is easy to learn and requires no outlay of capital. The farmers can easily
learn and operate the spinning wheel and can spin drn·ing their leisure hours to
supplement their meagre resources.

viii) Khadi is the only industty which can absorb largest number of people and can
provide employment to the unemployed at any time of the year without much
difficulty.

ix) Khadi industry provides work to the people during famine period. The state should be
purchase the products of Khadi during the famine. Tt is an Insurance against the
adversity of famine conditions.

x) The spi1ming wheel provides the people food, cloth and niake them self-sufficient.

Cooperatives

Gandhiji saw a great virtue m cooperation as an instrument of rural development. He

assigned specific roles to cooperatives in the field of agiiculture, commending the promotion
of cooperative fanning and thereby preventing fwther fragmentation of \andholdin~. He also
advocated the establishment of other types of cooperatives, such as credit cooperatives,
weavers and spinner's cooperatives and dairy cooperatives. ln this matter also, we have
perhaps lived up to the expectations of Gandhiji. India now bas the world's largest network of
cooperatives, which occupy and impo1tant place in lndia's rm-al economy. The Operation
Flood programme is a living example of what cooperatives can do to promote agi·icultural
and rural development in lndia. There is, therefore, need for us to adopt the cooperative part
to rural development, as advocated by Gandhij i.

Trusteeship

Gandhiji considered trusteeship an instrument of transfom1ing the capitalist order of society

into an egalitarian one. ln his opinion, all the land belonged to God, that is, the commtmity,
and therefore he advocated that land and other nattu·al resotu·ces should be collectively owned
by, and operated for, the welfare of the co111111tmity. Landlords should n,erely be trestees of
land and other natural resources and capital assets. He saw in the principle of trusteeship a
non-violent method of persuading landowners to donate their land volw,ta1ily for communi
ty
welfure pwposes, and of avoiding class conflicts.

According to Gandhiji, trnsteeship is a way of life rather than just a method to achieve
a
pa1ticular end. According to his holistic approach, "everything on this earth belongs to
God
and is from God. Therefore, it was for this people as a whole not for a particular individua
l
Everybody on this ea1th has a natural right to at least the basic necessities of life, just like
the
birds and the beasts have. If somehow, an individual had more than his proportionate share,
he was a trustee of that portion for God's people" As land belongs to God and thus belongs
to
the corrununity and therefore should be used for the welfare of the community. By peaceful
non-violent persuasion, the hearts of landowners should be changed to accept the trusteeshi
p
idea. lf this is not accepted by them, the poor should organise non- violent nonce-operation
and civil disobedience struggle against them He believed that the rich cannot accumula
te
wealth without the co-operation of the poor.

He said,

"The moment the cultivato rs of the soil realise their power, the Zamindari evil
will be
sterilized. What can the poor Zaminda r dQ when they say that they wilt not simply work
the
land unless they are paid enough to feed and clothe and educate themselv es and
their
children. In reality the toiler is the ow11er of what he produces. If the toilers intelligen tly
combine, they wilt become an irresistible power"

Village Sanitati on:

TI1e deal village envisaged by Gandhiji could be constructed on the basis of the principles
of
public hygiene and sanitation. TI1e houses which are to be built with locally available
material will have sufficient light and ventilation. Each house or a cottage shall have
a
courtyard to grow vegetables for domestic consumption and to house cattle. TI,e village
streets .and lanes will be kept clean. Each village shall have its own wate1works to ensure
clean water supply.

TI1e constructive workers shall make the villages models of cleanliness by teaching
the
villagers to maintain cleanliness in and around the village, including public wells, tanks
and
rivers.
r

of garba ge from the lanes and streets of

Gandhiji's Idea was not confined only to the removal
ctive use. If the garba ge is scientifically
the villages but also to put the same to the produ
use of productive manure to grow
conve1ted into manw·e, the villages can not only make
dirt and bad smell.
rnore food but also keep the villages clean from dust,

Remo val of U11to ucha bilty:

looked upon as a mere political

Untouchabilty is a social evil and should not be
must be abolished. According
neces sity The socio -econ omic evils associated with this system
g the peopl e m the society No social
to Gandhij~ there should be perfe ct social equality am:m
or by a section of the society on the
superiority should be entertained by any individual
consideration. Gandhiji fought against
grow,d of birth or know ledge or religion or any other
crusa de against the doctrine of racial
social superiority in any form and canie d on his
chabilty in India.
supe1iority in South Afiica and evil practi ces of untou

and unequal. The practi ce of

He has the op1111on that no one is born as untouchable
and non-Harijans arc the children of the
untouchabilty is a sin against God as the Harijans
effect of Hinduism and work ed for their
same God. He found untouchabilty as the worst evil
temple entry for religious equality.

, a non-political association for

In 1932, Gandhiji introduced Harijan Sevak Sangh
self-reliance through the adopt ion of
their self-improvement. He suggested their economic
ds to be adopt ed by them for their
spinning and weaving. He advoc ated non-violent metho
self-employment and for prope r realisation of their rights.

the Harijans m all administrative

Gandhiji was not in favour of representation to
tions
bodies He recommended representation under two condi

ntial castes , they should be

i) If the Ha 1ijans are purposely kept out by the Influe
given representation

provide representation to
ii) ii) ft is the duty of the represented communities to
quate ly represented
those communities which are unrepresented or inade

the caste Hindus to sacrifice and struggle for the all-round

Gandhiji wante d
should be assw·ed of decen t stand ard of
development of the Harijans and wished that they
For this, cleanliness, good habits, thrift,
living as respectable equal citizens of the counn y.33
industry and moral cow-age arc to be inculcated among them. 'She awakened Harijans should
make seiious attempts for self-improvement in all walks of life. ln Gandhian concept of
swaraj, none should be high or low but all are to be equal citizens and this Swaraj society is
free from any social exploitation and domination

Nai Taleem

Gndhiji had no faith in modem education, which emphasized only literacy and acquisition of
infonmtion. In his opinion, modem education was 'debauchery of the mind'. Hence, he
developed a new system of appropriate education and training which he called Nai Taleem
He believed that N ai Taleem would be help develop the full potential of children and adults,
through foll development of their bodies, minds and spirits. He wanted to see Nai Taleem to
be self-suppo1iing and practice-oriented. It is unfo1iunate that India has not yet geared its
education system to the needs of the country, and that is why its human resow-ces remain
under-developed and less productive, as compared to other countries which have given the
highest p1iority to education and total litcra1y programrnes have received higher p1iority than
m the past, with a view to achieve the national objective of 'Education for All' by the year
2000. Similarly, vocational education at the post-high school (10 th class) level is now being
considered as an alter:native to the present traditional general education. This shows that we
have now realized the relevance of Gandhij i's N ai Taleem

Pros and Corns of this Model:

TI1e Gandhian model, like any other development model, has both its proponents and
opponents. TI1e proponents argue that under the prevailing sociocultmal and economic
conditions in India, the Gandhian model is still relevant, and is the only alternative available
for bringing about equitable and sustainable rural development. TI1ey assert that panchayati
raj institutions and cooperatives are still as relevant as when they were in Gandhiji's days,
and that the role of appropriate education cannot be overemphasized even in the present
Indian context. The critics argue that Gandhiji's ideals of swadeshi, voluntary curtailment of
one's wants, trusteeship, self-sufficient villages, and use of manual labour in preference to
machines sound obsolete these days, pariicularly in the weeks of India's new economic
policy characterized by privati:zation, liberalization, and globalization. As a matter of fuct, by
adopting an economic growth-oriented development part and by following the Western
model or industrialization, both under the influence or Jawaharlal Nehru, lndia had
r

abandoned the Gandhian 111odel long ago, they assert fi.1rther. To conclude it could have been
said that Gandhiji wanted India to travel east, but India decided to h·avel west, and it is
known that 'the twain never mee t'.