Gandhi's Economic Views

The world today faces challenges of different forms ranging from ecological disaster to

terrorist violence and from deaths from malnutrition to problems emanating from

plenty. The world, whether it is the affluent North or the developing South, seems to

be running in a mad race. Two separate races, almost oblivious of each other, are

going on simultaneously on the world map - one race is of affluent people who are

clamouring for more and the other is for mere survival where people are striving hard

to make both ends meet. And this is where Gandhiji's ideas hold great value for

today's world - his emphasis on 'aparigrah' (non-possessiveness') and his idea of

'Swaraj' under which each individual, he thought, would be enabled to control his or

her life independent of state power and where villages/gram sabhas would be selfdependent

and self-sufficient.

"Our Earth has enough for everyone's need but not for anyone's greed" - This is what

Mahatama Gandhi said almost a century ago and there is no doubt that this holds

good today.

Gandhiji's famous Talisman that you recall the face of the poorest and the weakest

man and consider whether your act is going to be of any use to him, should be our

Mantra. And this talisman should be our philosophy of life if we have to achieve the

larger objective of 'Swaraj' and inclusive growth.

Human happiness was the main criterion for Gandhiji and he thought that progress

should be measured in terms of human happiness. He did not believe in the modern

view of an affluent society in which material development is the sole criterion of

progress. He supported the concept of 'SARVODAYA', the greatest good of all. His

vision of Swaraj was a society in which every man would have dignified life, and equal

opportunities to grow. He envisaged a society in which economic progress and social

justice would go hand in hand.

As our late Prime Minister and a Gandhian, Morarji Desai wrote in an Essay "Gandhiji

And the Destiny of Man" that Gandhiji demonstrated to the world the strength of

man's invincible soul when it was pitted against physical force or military might; of

moral values as against material ones; and of service and sacrifice as against

selfishness and acquisitiveness. He taught us the beauty of truth and the sublimity of

the human spirit.

Gandhiji

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