PANCHAYATI SWARAJ
Second Freedom; when my village becomes self-responsible
The Visions at the core of Panchayati Swaraj
Gandhian Vision
Displayed on a panel at the Birla House where Mahatma Gandhi was martyred.
The villagers should develop such a high degree of skill that articles prepared by them should command a ready market outside. When our villages are fully developed, there will be no dearth in them of men ... with a high degree of skill and artistic talent. There will be village poets, village artists, village architects, linguists and research workers. In short, there will be nothing in life worth having which will not be had in the villages. Today the villages are dung heaps. Tomorrow they will be like tiny gardens of Eden where highly intelligent folks dwell, whom no one can deceive or exploit. The reconstruction of the villages along those lines should begin right now… The reconstruction of the villages should not be organized on a temporary but on a permanent basis…
Harijan: July 26, 1942
My idea of village Swaraj is that it is a complete republic, independent of its neighbours for its own vital wants and yet interdependent for many others in which dependence is necessary. Thus, the first concern of every village will be to grow its own food crops, and cotton for its cloth. It should have a reserve for its cattle, recreation and playground for adults and children. Then, if there is more land available, it will grow useful money crops, thus excluding ganja, tobacco, opium and the like. The village will maintain a village theatre, school and public hall. It will have its own waterworks ensuring clean water supply. This can be done through controlled wells or tanks. Education will be compulsory up to the final basic course. As far as possible, every activity will be conducted on the cooperative basis. There will be no castes such as we have today with their graded untouchability. Nonviolence with its technique of Satyagraha and non-co-operation will be the sanction of the village community. There will be a compulsory service of village guards who will be selected by rotation from the register maintained by the village.'
The villagers should develop such a high degree of skill that articles prepared by them should command a ready market outside. When our villages are fully developed, there will be no dearth in them of men ... with a high degree of skill and artistic talent. There will be village poets, village artists, village architects, linguists and research workers. In short, there will be nothing in life worth having which will not be had in the villages. Today the villages are dung heaps. Tomorrow they will be like tiny gardens of Eden where highly intelligent folks dwell, whom no one can deceive or exploit. The reconstruction of the villages along those lines should begin right now… The reconstruction of the villages should not be organized on a temporary but on a permanent basis…
Harijan: July 26, 1942
My idea of village Swaraj is that it is a complete republic, independent of its neighbours for its own vital wants and yet interdependent for many others in which dependence is necessary. Thus, the first concern of every village will be to grow its own food crops, and cotton for its cloth. It should have a reserve for its cattle, recreation and playground for adults and children. Then, if there is more land available, it will grow useful money crops, thus excluding ganja, tobacco, opium and the like. The village will maintain a village theatre, school and public hall. It will have its own waterworks ensuring clean water supply. This can be done through controlled wells or tanks. Education will be compulsory up to the final basic course. As far as possible, every activity will be conducted on the cooperative basis. There will be no castes such as we have today with their graded untouchability. Nonviolence with its technique of Satyagraha and non-co-operation will be the sanction of the village community. There will be a compulsory service of village guards who will be selected by rotation from the register maintained by the village.'
Tagorean Vision
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls...
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls...
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
The Uttaramerur Inscription Vision
An inscription found in the Uttaramerur village of Chengelpet District in Tamil Nadu
dates back to the Chola rule of the 10th century. Historians refer to the villages described
by these inscriptions as "Village Republics". A study of these inscriptions reveals
aspects of village government of those times. ...
One panel especially relates to election to the village council.
Reading between the lines it becomes clear that the ideal of the Indian village is one
that is self-sufficient, self-governing and surely in control of its own destiny.
The king and his government pay the role of an auditor, ensuring that government is
according to the law of the land. On its part the village has the power to take initiative and
run its own show and is responsible for the welfare of its own citizens.
This is a truly participatory form of government. A web search for
"Village Republics of Uttaramerur" or "Uttaramerur Inscriptions" provides a lot of data
data and insights on this form of government. The following site gives comprehensive details
of which note worthy is the work of the Chola kings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uthiramerur
The Gandhian Eden: Home Sweet Home
(A contemporary story to narrate and inspire villages:
Click here to go to the story)
This is a story that attempts to vizualize what a free Gandhian village would look like
in the present context. It is a tool that can be used to help villagers vizualize
how they should be living. It is a fantasy, but it is also a mind science instrument
that can be used to implant ideas into the minds of the villagers.
...
Everything created is created twice; first it gets created in the mind and only then it gets implemented/created in the physical world. Unless the first creation happens, the second creation is impossible except by a highly improbable fluke. Unless the idea of freedom is first created in the minds of the villagers it cannot be implemented in their communities. This story is a way of conveying this to the members of the village in a way that it creates goals in their minds.
A facilitator will narrate a variant of this story to the members of the village and project to them what the Gandhian/Tagorean/Uttaramerur visions are all about
Everything created is created twice; first it gets created in the mind and only then it gets implemented/created in the physical world. Unless the first creation happens, the second creation is impossible except by a highly improbable fluke. Unless the idea of freedom is first created in the minds of the villagers it cannot be implemented in their communities. This story is a way of conveying this to the members of the village in a way that it creates goals in their minds.
A facilitator will narrate a variant of this story to the members of the village and project to them what the Gandhian/Tagorean/Uttaramerur visions are all about