PANCHAYATI SWARAJ
Second Freedom; when my village becomes self-responsible
It is a proposed mass action by the citizens of India, which has a Gandhian flavor. It imitates the swadeshi movement that happened before independence and seeks to empower rural India. It was first proposed in a study by the participants of the MIT School of Government, Pune, titled “The tragedy of Farmers’ suicides in Vidarbha: A lesson and a Ray of hope” (Rupa, 2009).
What is the core Idea in Swagrami?
It is a proposed appeal to the Citizens of the nation to buy from villages. To patronize village made goods. And simultaneously there is an appeal to the villages to produce goods that are “Clean, Quality and Necessary”.
Is there a patriotic or spiritual dimension to it?
... Yes. It entails a sacrifice on the part of the buyers to opt for produce from villages that could be of lesser quality. And it will both, serve to lighten the spiritual envirionment and it will lead to national progress.
What is the rationale behind this?
**The present Indian system has accepted one of the variants of capitalism which we now refer to as ‘liberalised’. **In a capitalist system, the possession of capital/money is a huge plus. Money drives capacity of individuals and teams to survive and thrive in capitalistic societies. **Money is needed for food, shelter, clothing, health, skills, education and aesthetics. **If it does not move into villages it makes them weak and powerless. **For Village freedom in today's world we must help that flow into the villages.
**Capitalism rewards the risk takers with greater control over resources. Money goes to successful entrepreneurs **Villages must spawn entrepreneurs. Village brands must be developed because the owners of successful brands can bring prosperity to villages. The village community itself should own brands based on its name and geographical location **This brand building can initially be done by supporting companies that work on Value addition of agriculture produce.
**Also, there is masked unemployment in Rural India and it must go. **More jobs need to be created in the villages.**There is a need to move people out of agriculture and induct them into services and production. **With more jobs being created in villages, and with money flowing in, the villages’ chances to thrive and climb the positive spiral increases.
**So when rural entrepreneurs take risk they need to be supported and it can be done by the simple step of patronizing their produce.
Does this also make some demands on the Villagers?
** They must focus on producing goods that are “Clean, Quality and Necessary”. This should be their mantra. **It is important that the Village companies must try and move into self-sustenance mode as quickly as possible and actually compete successfully in the market.**They must work on their core strengths and look for opportunities where they will have a natural advantage.
Is Swagrami supposed to be a permanent feature?
**The Cycle of prosperity has to start somewhere. **A Swagrami initiative would be needed to kick start the process… **As the cycle picks up the villages will become competitive because of Improving transport, cheaper labour, PURA system advantages, Raw materials access, low Land costs and Community support . **Once the villages become competitive then there would be no need to support them with Swagrami.
Who will make the appeal?
Gandhiji always went inwards and spoke what appealed to his heart. It has to be an appeal that comes from the heart. It is hoped that Gandhians and spiritual leaders of all denominations will spearhead this. May be it will be a coming together of many such people who have already made such appeals in their areas of influence. It only needs to reach Gandhian scale.
The following table highlights the salient points
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SWADESHI |
So that Indians could have employment and livelihood and
possibility of growth |
SWAGRAMI |
So that village dwellers will have employment livelihood and
growth |
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PURCHASE KHADI |
Sacrificing better quality machine made foreign clothes for hand
woven Khadi clothes |
PURCHASE VILLAGE PRODUCE |
Purchasing Village made goods and goods from small and cottage
industries in preference to large company made goods |
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SATHYAGRAH |
Righteous non-violent action that confronts evil with love |
NATION BUILDING |
Righteous constitutional action that reaches out a hand to
empower fellowmen |
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KHADI |
Produced as a sign of resistance to foreign rule, self-sacrifice
in simplicity, sweat of the brow for livelihood |
VILLAGE PRODUCE |
Produced as a sign of empowering every villager, self-sacrifice
in simplicity, Sweat of the brow giving right livelihood |
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KHADI PRODUCE |
Was not designed to be competitive in the market; It was
deliberately supported as a sign of protest. |
VILLAGE PRODUCE |
Must be designed to be competitive in market using core
strengths and village level advantages; Initially needs to
be supported to kick start prosperity cycle |