Research Paper Economics Volume : 5 | Issue : 8 | August 2015 | ISSN - 2249-555X

Gandhian Model for Rural Development: Relevance

after Economic Reform

Keywords Gandhian model, Self-sufficient, Rural Economy, Rural Reconstruction

Dr. Poonam Singh

Assistant professor (senior scale), Dept. of Economics, Sahu Ram Swaroop Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Bareilly, Uttar
Pradesh
ABSTRACT This article is an attempt to characterize the rural development approach evolved in Gandhian Philosophy
and explained its significance in this globalised era. The series of ideas stemming from Gandhi have pro-
vided the theoretical ground for hundreds of thousands of grass root development activities all over the world. There
is a lot of argument regarding the applicability of the Gandhian thought in village development across the world. The
study concluded that the Gandhian model would be much reliable to reduce the gap between the well-offs and have-
nots, instead of replicating the Western models of economic development. Gandhiji’s ideas are more relevant today
than ever before, specially his philosophy of self-reliance and decentralization.

Introduction ket. Large scale production creates conflicts between la-

Many thinkers doubt the economic ideology of Gandhi, bour and capital. Such conflicts may not occur in the case
since they believe that it is not a suitable method either as of rural industries. Gandhiji wanted diversified economic
a policy or as an approach. But gradually this way of think- activities in the villages and thus stood for all round devel-
ing has been changing across the world. Some argue that opment of rural India.
Gandhian economics is quite appropriate for the present-
day crisis in rural development in India. While India start- II. Obstructions in Rural Development of India in pre-
ed formulating planning strategies in 1951-52 there was sent century
intense debate on India’s development policy and strate- At the turn of the millennium, most developing nations
gies issues because economic development of a country are confronted by increasing poverty, illiteracy, population,
depends on the proper utilization of natural and human environmental degradation, crime, corruption and social
resources. India was an economy with a low level of social, unrest. Liberalization of economies and globalization are
economic, and technological development, low per capita often being projected as the panacea for all these prob-
income, slow pace of development of economic institu- lems. Facing bankruptcy, the developing and under devel-
tions and obsolete techniques of production in all the sec- oped nations have opened their economies to the global
tors of economy, at the time of independence, and most market. This is giving a false sense of prosperity but the
of the symptoms are still persist in the economy. basic problems of poverty, illiteracy, population, environ-
mental degradation and social unrest continue to plague
In this context this article is an attempt to characterize the them. The current scenario is quite disappointing as some
rural development approach evolved in Gandhian Philoso- glimpses are described below:
phy and explained its significance in this globalised era.
The Gandhian village development model is analyzed in Present scenario of under development:
the first section. The backdrop of current setbacks in rural ( i) Poverty Level
development is critically described in the second section. Though a lot of time and effort has been spent in improv-
The third section elaborates the necessity of the alterna- ing these in the post-independence period, the poverty
tive method and finally the conclusion and future pathway alleviation programmes are numerous in the rural areas
is explored in the last section. across the nation, yet the poverty levels continue to be
quite high. As per the press release of the Planning Com-
Gandhian View for Self –Sufficient Rural Economy mission, the poverty estimates report 21.6 crores (25.70 %)
According to Gandhi every person should be provided in the rural areas for 2012-13.
with bare minimum necessaries i.e. food, shelter, and
clothing. An increase in personal income is an indication of (ii) Health Conditions
the growth of national income. But the opposite may not In rural India, the existence of infant mortality rate (IMR)
be true i.e. the growth of national income may not always was 51 per 1000 in 2010. It shows the level of health
benefit every man in society. amenities for the rural people in India. The per capita per
day intake of calories (2147 Kcal) in 2009-10 divulges still a
Agricultural sector alone cannot solve the problem of rural lower level.
poverty and unemployment. That’s why Gandhi gives stress
on the growth of the rural industries like khadi, handlooms, (iii) Education Status
sericulture and handicrafts. He opines that large-scale in- The literacy rates are still dwindling and show a long
dustries make people lazy and help concentration of haul ahead since the rates are 68.91 per cent, 78.57 per
wealth in the hands of few. On the contrary, rural industries cent, and 58.75 per cent for persons, males and females
are based on family labour and required less amount of respectively in the 2011 Census. The human development
capital. Raw materials are also collected from local markets index was 0.467 in 2007-08 and the quality achieved in ru-
and the goods thus produced are sold in the local mar- ral India is very low when compared to other developing
kets. Therefore there is no problem of production and mar- countries

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 Research Paper Volume : 5 | Issue : 8 | August 2015 | ISSN - 2249-555X

iv) Employed and Unemployed Levels The Gandhian model would be much reliable to reduce
As per the 66th NSS round, the male and female em- the gap between the haves and have-nots, instead of rep-
ployed on Current Daily Basis (CDS) were 50.1 per cent licating the Western models of economic development,
and 18.2 per cent in that order and the unemployed on which lead to drastic inequalities and too much capital
the CDS basis were 6.4 per cent and 8.0 for males and fe- concentration in a few hands (Naik J.P. 1983) There are
males respectively. certain objections to the adoptability of Gandhian rural re-
construction, since certain academic and political groups
(iv) Lagging Agriculture express the view that rural social stratification and social
The pathetic conditions of cultivators generate a number hierarchy may become obstacles for the development of
of questions. A large proportion of the agricultural land the underprivileged and backward sections in society. But
is without irrigation facilities. We find suicides of farmers, at same time, they argue strongly for a new approach for
huge debt burden, and low level of incomes, market prob- the welfare of the huge masses of rural India. (Suryakant
lems. Thus a galaxy of problems exists in agriculture in ru- Waghmore, 2008 and Surinder S. Jodhka, 2002.Though
ral India. A major segment of the population depends on there are doubts over the working of the Gandhian eco-
agriculture, its growth rate in the recent past (10 years) has nomic ideology, we should be ready to accept the ground
been low—not more than 1.5 per cent (crop). It certainly realties of the present scenario of economic failure in en-
affects the incomes of a vast segment of the population. suring well-being for a large chunk of our fellow men.
There is hardly any appreciable development in the eco- Therefore, Mathur B.P. (2011) clearly articulated: “It is time
nomic condition of the small and marginal farmers. we abandon a model whose foundations rest on material-
ism, consumption and greed.”
(v) Indebtedness
It is reported the indebtedness of all rural people was 25 Notwithstanding the controversial aspects of the Gandhian
per cent and 47.30 per cent for 1999-00 and 2004-05 re- model, one can hardly deny its relevance in the current
spectively. For labour households, the indebtedness re- turbulent and violent-prone societies. It is the right time to
ports that for all households average indebtedness per adopt the Gandhian model in the interest of 84 crores of
household is Rs 4852 in 2004-05 and the average debt per the rural population.Hence, our rural development policies
indebted household( for all) is Rs 6049 and Rs 10,259 in are to be given shape through the prism of Gandhian ru-
the similar period. Farmers’ suicides from 1997 (13,622) ral reconstruction. What we need today is to devise a new
to 2006 (17,060) have been persisting. The rate of suicides model of economic development based on the Gandhian
during 1996-2005 reported as per lakh population from ideology.
1.42 per cent to 1.55 per cent.
IV. Conclusion
III. Need for Alternative model for Village’s makeover in Rural regions in our nation are still deprived of basic ne-
India cessities. Poverty in rural areas has resulted in suicides
There is a dire need to take the message and practice of of a large number of farmers. A number of schemes and
Gandhian thought in both planning and implementation programs have been made for providing employment op-
to render a real change in village life. Where the old poli- portunities to the rural youth over the years but due to
cies have failed to guarantee welfare to all, an alternative poor implementation of the programs and the absence of
policy must be devised. Since the gloomy situation, as dis- proper monitoring almost all the schemes have not shown
cussed earlier, stand in the way of ensuring peaceful and expected results. Thus the Gandhian Paradigm of social
harmonious life for vast segments of Indian peoples, it is progress needs to be followed effectively in our villages.
necessary on the part of policy makers to consider the
Gandhian ideology of village transformation, and helps to India need a new matrix of economic development, in
ameliorate the prevailing conditions. which progress is measured in terms of development of
human capability, dignified employment for everyone, eq-
The economic models of India are hardly successful to re- uitable distribution of income and wealth, ecological sus-
move the maladies on the rural front; rather these have tainability and social well-being of the community. Gan-
paved the way for transfer of resources from rural to urban dhiji’s ideas are more relevant today than ever before,
in the form of humans and raw material. It is high time to specially his philosophy of self-reliance and decentraliza-
formulate a new model, which is based on the Gandhian tion.
ideology ( Mishra,2009; Rangarajan and Rajkumar, 2009) .

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