Gandhian Model Of Community Development

The Gandhian philosophy of community development was accepted officially and the adaption of the Khadi and village industry programming the nation, village self-sufficiency and the faith in Panchyati Raj, Sahakary Samaj, Gram Samaj, Bhoodan, Sarvodaya, Garmdan, Decentralization, Swadeshi are very important and helpful in Gandhian Community development. The village’s development is the real development.

The community development program is designed to support this voluntary community effort. It consists of a number of individual schemes each of which falls under one of the following broad aspects of rural community life.

1. Agriculture
2. Irrigation and reclamation.
3. Animal husbandry
4. Education
5. Social education
6. Health and rural sanitation
7. Housing
8. Communications
9. Rural Arts, crafts industries

Since a number of department and other units of government are involved in the administration of this multipurpose program, a series of coordination committees and controlling authorities have involved at the national state and district level and separate units called community development plucked have been created within the districts to act as common agencies for all these development departments this arrangement is related to village development.

Gandhi’s Constructive work for Community Development

Constructive work, according to Gandhi must be constructive in nature. It must be directed towards the welfare of the people as a whole. Through this programme evils and miseries can be eradicated. Constructive work includes also many other programmes such as the establishment of hospital construction of roads and bridges, Bhoodan, Gramdan, Basic education, Harijan Seva, Khadi, proper planning, eradication of unsociability, Nai Talim, Swadeshi, and Charkha, etc. Development meant for Gandhi, awakening individuals to their true religious potential, while at the sometimes enabling them to secure a living and to transform society. In this sense, the economic, political and social aspects of life were intimately connected with the spiritual. The constructive program may otherwise and more fittingly be called constructive of Poorna Swaraj or complete independence by truthful and nonviolent means. Some of his constructive works were:-

Khadi

Gandhi ji thought Khadi is very important for community development. Khadi is beneficial for both frame producers and the weavers to get physical exercise conducive to health. The product meets the basic needs of all human beings. The spinners association, under the guidance of Gandhi, introduced a system of certification for khadi, regulating different aspects, such as production cost, sale price, and profit administrative cost. The laborers should get a major portion of the profit.

The revival of the cottage industry alone could have removed the vast under-employment and unemployment in the country. Khadi and cottage industry can give work to many cloth mills to some. Khadi serves labour, cloth mill exploits it besides, and this is a non-violent way of liquidating foreign and national capitalism.

Gandhian Charkha’s scheme is also very important for the community development. Charkha’s scheme is also constructive work by Gandhiji he was thought that the charkha scheme is very helpful and a patent symbol in India’s struggle for freedom wearing khadi became a regular for all Patriotic Indians and a deep symbol of silent non-violent economic resistance. For Gandhi the adoption of khadi the trust of swadeshi spirit, identification with the starving millions.

Other village Industries

Gandhi’s constructive programme also advocated the establishment of other cottage industries. These were hand-spinning, hand-pounding, soap-making, paper-making, match- box making, and oil pressing, etc. All should make it a point of honour to use only village articles whenever and wherever available. Given the demand, there is no doubt that most of our wants can be supplied from our villages. When we have become village-minded, we will not want imitations of the West or machine-made products, but we will develop a true national taste in keeping with the vision of a new India in which pauperism, starvation, and idleness will be unknown.

Basic Education

Primary education is a farce designed without regard to the wants of the India of the villages and for that matter even of the cities. Basic education links the children, whether of the cities or the villages, to all that is best and lasting in India. It develops both the body and the mind and keeps the child rooted to the soil with a glorious vision of the future in the realization of which he or she begins to take his or her share from the very commencement of his or her career in school. Congressmen would find it of absorbing interest benefiting themselves equally with the children with whom they come in contact. Let those who wish, put themselves in touch with the Secretary of the Sangh at Sevagram.

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'Adult education will follow in the wake of basic education as a matter of course. Where this new education has taken root, the children themselves become their parents' teachers. Be that as it may, the village worker has to undertake adult education also.'

Panchyati Raj

Gandhi has been considered a great advocate of the Panchayati Raj in India. He wanted to re-orientate village life through the institution of the panchayat. In his view, villages are the backbone of a nation. Villages of India, according to him, are the real India. In his own words, “if the village perished India will perish too.

Swaraj was the opportunity to shape Indian rural development in accordance with her own traditions and needs. So he remarketed. “To serve our villages is to establish Swaraj. Everything else is but on the ideal dream. Accordingly, Gandhi took keep interest in the development of rural society.

Gandhiji made the Panchayat system a part of his scheme for the reconstruction of the society and emphasized that thought the establishment of proper Panchayat system values of democracy would be attained.

Village Sanitation

Gandhi ji give his contribution to awaking village people about the sanitation. He told them God resides where cleanliness is. If you keep your home dirty this will give an invitation to a lot of diseases. He also aware them not to leave water stop at a place this will give rise to Mosquitoes and then mosquitoes will spread malaria.

Trusteeship

Gandhi’s concept of trusteeship is also an important factor under constructive work for community development. It is the outcome of his labour and capital. He advised the capitates, the landlords and such persons who have surplus wealth; because when the capitalist will be trustee of the surplus wealth then the difference of labour and capital will be done away with. The people will then enjoy all sorts of facilities like nipple food, sufficient clothes, proper education, and medical assistance and will be realized in the best form. Gandhiji got the hint of the idea of trusteeship from Gita. He thought it is essential for economic equalities.

Government Schemes motivated from Gandhian Model for Community Development:

Gandhi did many works for community development such as Panchyat Raj, Gram Swaraj, Sarvodaya, Satyagraha, etc. They are part of Gandhi’s constructive programs. Gandhian constructive work is very important for modern India.

The Community development program was initiated by the Government of India on 2nd October 1952, when work commenced in only seventy-seven blocks scattered over India more blocks were opened from year to year as finance and framed personnel became available. At the present time district in India has most of its rural area under block administration. The Government has launched the following schemes for Community Development:

Agricultural and allied fields

Under this category activity regarding following items are included, (a) reutilization of virgin and wastelands, (b) repairing of old wells, digging new wells and provision of major/minor irrigation facilities, (c) adoption of qualitative high-yielding seeds, manures, fertilizers, use of tractors, etc. (d) provision of credit facilities for the development of animal husbandry, poultry farming, fishery, soil conservation etc. and (e) growth of vegetables and plants etc.