Gandhian Model of Economic Development

Mahatma Gandhi had multifaceted personality. His aim in the life was to achieve enlightenment by serving his nation and mankind. He was born in India and so he was of the opinion that it was his first duty to serve India. He did it through his thoughts, creative activities, different movements, organizations, and his own life- style. His creative activities can be classified in 18 forms which cover mainly political, economical, social, educational, religious as well as medical fields. Out of 18 forms of his activities were related to economic wellbeing of society. He was clear that economic self sufficiency for an individual and for a nation is unavoidable. This led him to think about and study upon various economic problems of the country and device action plans for solving them. This was the root of his economic thinking. His work or discussions or writing therefore, were not educational fancy but were the requirement of time. He knew that the major part of human life is busy in economic activities. In that case economic activities can never be without ETHICS and NONVIOLENCE. Thus he absorbed ethics and nonviolence in economics. He created a strong background for his economic thought. He collected information about Indian Economy before British rule and the causes of the decline of Indian Economy during the British rule. With this strong background he had his own unique way of thinking about economics, economy, economic aims, and economic development process. He examined the usefulness and practicability of his economic thoughts by practicing them in the country. He had his original explanation about important concepts and terminologies of economics. He explained that economy did not mean the people of a country having the right to develop with the unlimited use of all the living and nonliving resources available in the country. Economy meant the total living of a country that has got the right to survive with coexistence. That is the cause he was the first man to care for ecology. He rejected the idea of 'economic man'. He accepted the average man with all his characteristics. He said that an average man lives a satisfied life with his resources. 'Unlimited demand', 'Dissatisfied man ' and 'Limited resources' are wrong concepts. At the same time he explained about the required need. Following are the main points regarding Gandhi je thought on Economic Development 1. Limitations of wants 2. Development of rural Economies 3. Swadeshi 4. Small and medium scale of enterprise 5. Saving

Limitations of Wants: - Problem of development is consumerism. Gandhi je advocated that one should minimize his/her needs; they should use the resources according to their need.

Development of rural economies- As India is a country of villages so Gandhi je focused

on rural development for last 30 years of his life. He believed in local rural production and consumption. This was his concept of dream village. There should be Gram Swaraj and Gram Vikash to have rural development. Villages should be self reliance and generate employment in villages so that people do not migrate to cities and it should promote multi sect oral development. According to Gandhi je Modern high technology provides tools to bring his dream village to reality. Swadeshi: - Gandhi je advocated people to not use the clothes which were made in British. Every Indian should wear the clothes which are made in India; so that economy is improving and it also provide employment opportunities to many Indians. This is the major thought of Gandhi in Economic development of India. The swadeshi was a successful economic strategy to remove the British Empire from power and improve economic conditions in India. Strategies of the swadeshi movement involved boycotting British products and the revival of domestic-made products and production techniques. Small and Medium Scale of Enterprises: - India is a land of agriculture and 60% of the people depend upon agriculture for their livelihood. So Gandhi je advocated that economic development of a country depend on the development of small and medium enterprises. So he focused on small and medium scale of enterprises. Saving: - He promotes saving for future and further use. Following above are the main point regarding Gandhi Economic Development of India.