PANCHAYATI SWARAJ
Second Freedom; when my village becomes self-responsible
Toolkit
PANCHAYATI SWARAJ
TOOLKIT
This Toolkit refers to resources
in the web which can be used to trigger self-reliance in villages.
Hopefully you will see how with minimal intervention, and giving the
villages to do their own thing, change can be attempted. Please develop
your understanding by watching these six videos and it will point out to
hope for the depressed classes in rural India. There will surely be many
familiar ideas; what matters is how it is strung together in this
scheme.
**********************************
1. The following brief video is
just to remind that there are great energies available in village
communities, the present approach generally does not give them adequate
credit
The Simple Villager can do
wonders (2Min 18Sec)
**********************************
2. The following video
introduces the viewer to the www.PSwaraj.com website. As you will see,
the website is a self-help tool available on the internet which an
activist/leader in a village can use to trigger team-formation and
self-government in his village.
How to use PS website (Time 13:48)
**********************************
3. The following video is an
outcome of the Study tour of Vidarbha by a team From MIT Pune’s School
of Government. A diverse team of 8 members ranging from 21 to 45 years
of age, all graduates from diverse fields.
The mandate was to understand
why farmers are committing suicide. After the study this video was made
to supplement the study report. This video consists of findings of the
study including pointers to where the solutions may be available
Despair to hope (Time 25:30)
*-*-*-*
4a. The farm crisis can be
handled not necessarily by the political parties, the bureaucracy or by
the social service sectors by themselves; maybe not even together. But
along with people it can be a different story. The following Video
represents the first of the three-part solution, which highlights the
necessity of the spirit of self-government. A truly “free”
society/community is one that takes up responsibility for itself.
Action Point 1 of 3 (17 Min
13 Secs)
4b. The next video deals with a
second solution the village community must implement of its own desire
for freedom. The multi-party system has an unfortunate impact on village
leadership, which on the other hand needs a united leadership. The
initial ideal emerging from the Constitutional scheme in India was that
panchayat elections must be fought on non-party lines, but that is not
the case how it has practically evolved now. So, if a
village means well for itself, it should implement a non-party
government in the village.
Action point 2 of 3 (23 Min 17
Secs)
*-*-*-*
4c. The
following video deals with a) the problem of Agri/farm crisis, b) the
importance of diversification, and c) the importance of Swagrami to (in
turn help stimulate diversification, decentralization and self-reliance
in villages). Ideally the farmers who had agitated at Delhi must
understand these concepts… They must realize that they are fighting an
impossible situation, not an impossible Government. Swagrami is the
solution, it is the Gandhian action which the situation demands.
Swagrami is needed to kick start self-government in Villages.
Action
point 3 of 3: Swagrami (21 Min 19 Secs)
**********************************
Reference and Notes:
1. The book “Rising to Second Freedom:
Enlightened minds Ignited spirits” contains the solution in its entirety
and can be treated as reference.
2. The opportunities lie in the fact that
there are a lot of people who are working creatively at problems and are
also doing routine duty—even with their hearts out—but with very little
light visible at the end of the tunnel—pushing on regardless. For such
people, these ideas, compiled in Panchayati Swaraj, most of which are
time-tested, are likely to give new meaning to their efforts.
3. Political workers, grassroots leaders,
Government agents, social workers, CSR initiatives … all these can
supplement these ideas into their existing strategies.
4. Swagrami is an opportunity for the
Gandhians to raise the stakes and demonstrate the kind of impact
Gandhian thought is capable of.
“Let noble thoughts come to us from every
side”.
… RigVeda
**********************************
Sinduland Genius website
**********************************
Finally,
1. As an
intellectual Search for "Six freedoms" and study how they are relevant to
your village
2. As an
activist ensure that your village arrives at its "Village
swaraj master plan" (with
well defined 'projects' and their importance and 'priority' also well
defined) which is a part of "Tfhe Milestones to Panchayati Swaraj for my
village".