Article

Tribe and Tribal Journal of the Anthropological

Survey of India
Welfare in 68(2) 225–233, 2019
© 2019 Anthropological Survey of India
Gandhian Thoughts Reprints and permissions:
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DOI: 10.1177/2277436X19881261
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Kakali Chakrabarty1

Abstract
Gandhi is best known for his sarvodaya movement where he talked of ‘welfare for
all’. His focus was on the deprived section of the countrymen who constituted a
majority of India’s population. Thus, the term was often referred to as antodaya,
i.e., ‘Rise to the last men’. Gandhi was not very particular about ‘tribe’, as to him,
tribes were a part of rural communities who were exploited by the powerful
class of people; thus, they required welfare measures. Gandhi’s mission and vision
towards tribes was mainly an outcome of his constant association with Thakkar
Bapa, who had been well exposed to the exploitation and helpless misery of tribal
life, especially of the Bhil people of Gujarat under the British rule. To Gandhi,
tribal welfare and rural welfare were same. However, he believed that tribals were
simple people. His interaction with the Zulu people in Africa exposed him to the
bare truth of exploitation of the tribal people by the colonial rulers.
To his idea, the tribes should be approached on the basis of non-violence,
accepting the principles of a democratic society and the fundamental equality and
unity of man. The process of social domination and political imposition should
be avoided. Welfare measures should be taken up on the basis of understanding
their society and culture. Gandhi’s concept of Sarvodaya, i.e., welfare of all also
had a purpose to bring the majority of Indians in the struggle for independence.
He believed that India’s independence cannot be achieved without participation
of its rural masses that formed the majority of Indian population.
Gandhi dreamt of a society with equity among all members in fundamental
necessities of life including education. His dream is yet to be chased.

Keywords
Sarvodaya, adivasi, morality, ethics, Gandhians, exploitation, deprivation

1
Department of Museology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

Corresponding author:
Kakali Chakrabarty, Department of Museology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, West Bengal 700027,
India.
E-mail: chakrabartykakali@gmail.com
226 Journal of the Anthropological Survey of India 68(2)

Gandhi’s best known aphorism is ‘The world has enough for everybody’s need
but not for a single man’s greed’. With this statement, Gandhi suggested certain
steps to be practised like voluntary simplicity to minimise wants and using
recycled resources for the revival of Indian villages, for there are natural limits to
industrialisation. Gandhi warned people about the use of chemical fertilisers and
of trading in soil fertility for the sake of quick returns, as it would prove to be a
disastrous short-sighted philosophy (R. Guha, 2000).
Gandhian philosophy contains those thoughts that have universal appeal and
perpetual significance. The dynamic nature of Gandhi’s thoughts may be explained
with the fact that he consciously and continuously kept on improving his ideas
based on morality and ethics. Gandhi was constantly growing in his life. This was
naturally reflected in his personality and thought which was constantly developing
in his writings. He explained that life was truth, non-violence and reason and not
reason alone, for he believed that faith only begins where reason stops (Vora,
1993). Gandhi provided an interpretation of human life from the standpoint of
truth and non-violence which were the eternal principles of life for him.
Gandhi’s concept of rural development meant self-reliance with least
dependence on outsiders. He always said that India lives in villages, and if its
villages perish, India will perish too. Thus, we should develop them further rather
than towns and large cities that in fact ‘were a snare and a useless encumbrance
and that people would not be happy in them, that there would be gangs of thieves
and robbers, prostitution and vice flourishing in them and those poor men would
be robbed by rich men’ (Gandhi, 1938 [1962]). He advocated that true democracy
and justice could only be dispensed at the village level with a decentralised
administration and judicial system. In his words, ‘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 a necessity….
Here there is perfect democracy based upon individual freedom’ (Gandhi, 1957).
The tribal mode of village organisation was absolutely compatible to Gandhi’s
philosophy of village India. Gandhi was interested in promoting the tribal
(Adivasi, in Gandhi’s perception) culture. Interestingly, the simplicity that
characterised Gandhi’s life and his love for nature had a great resemblance to the
lifestyle of the tribal people. Gandhi’s very personal practice of non-possession
beyond one’s real need is also similar to the tribal life and practice. In his writings,
he narrated his constant struggle to develop such practice in his life and to motivate
his family. While permanently returning to India, he received costly gifts of
jewellery made of gold and diamond as farewell presents. In his words,

The evening I was presented with the bulk of these things I had a sleepless night. I
walked up and down my room deeply agitated, but could find no solution. It was dif-
ficult for me to forego gifts worth hundreds, it was more difficult to keep them. …I had
no costly ornaments in the house. We had been fast simplifying our life. How then could
we afford to have gold watches? How could we afford to wear gold chains and diamond
rings? Even then I was exhorting to conquer the infatuation for jewellery. …I decided
that I could not keep these things. I drafted a letter, creating a trust of them in favour of
the community and appointing Parsi Rustomji and others trustees. …finally got rid of
the heavy incubus (Gandhi, 2006).
Chakrabarty 227

Gandhi felt that rampant exploitation of natural resources and dispossession of the
Adivasi communities from their natural assets and habitat had led to a long drawn
strife and violence among the tribes. It was threatening to their self-reliant and
dignified lifestyle and their inherent co-habitation with nature. Throughout his
life, Gandhi was worried of the exploitation and deprivation of the tribal people
and tried his best to serve them. Sending A. V. Thakkar (Amritlal Vitthalbhai
Thakkar), a devoted social worker, to work for the upliftment of tribal people was
a case in point (Hindu, 2011).
Thakkar was born in 1869 in Bhavnagar, Gujarat. He was a civil engineer and
served in Porbundar and other places in the Saurashtra. He lost his job during
famine of the year 1900. He then went to South Africa for a job in the Kenya-
Uganda Railways. In India, his father was rendering service to the famine-stricken
people of Saurashtra. While appreciating the efforts of his father, Amritlal knew
that his father’s service was limited to a small section of the multitude that
happened to be his caste. Sometimes, he felt sorry and thought of the true service
transcending the barriers of caste, creed or colours (Sengar, 2004; Thakkar, 1994).
After returning to India from Uganda, like Gandhi, he took guidance from Gokhale
and joined his ‘Servants of India Society’ (Phadke, 1965). After joining ‘Servants
of India Society’, he devoted himself to the cause of depressed classes. He was
popularly known as Thakkar Bapa among the Bhil tribe whom he rendered his
welfare services devotedly. In Bhil vocabulary, ‘Bapa’ means ‘father’.
Thakkar Bapa and Gandhi advocated and emphasised the welfare of Adivasi
people in terms of socio-economic upliftment, without any harm to their culture,
tradition and religion. They believed in their social progress. Their traditional ideas
should not be disturbed hastily; perseverance and patient propaganda must be the
only weapons of social welfare worker to fight the superstitious ideas of the
‘Adivasis’ (Sengar, 2004). To Thakkar, the main handicaps of the tribes were
suffering from poverty, ill health, inaccessibility of the terrain they lived in, defects
of the administration and lack of leadership as well as literacy (Sengar, 2004).
Arguing against the policy of assimilation, Thakkar Bapa believed that the
aborigines should not be approached by administration, the police and the army
followed by a teacher and preacher (S. Guha, 2000). They should be approached
by a wise leadership that will not make plans without an understanding of the
problems and facts that govern their different, difficult and peculiar situations.
Gandhi holds the view of the maximisation of social welfare, and for this, he
gives prime importance to the welfare of the individuals by reducing inequalities
in income and wealth. According to him, every person should be provided with
bare minimum necessities, i.e., food, shelter and clothing. Concentration of wealth
to a few groups of people certainly will shatter the dream of a society which is
socialist in nature. Gandhi is in favour of the self-sufficient village economy
where the villages will be the independent economic units. To Gandhi, tribal
welfare and rural welfare were not separate (Gandhi, 1938 [1962]). He said that
one of the distinguishing characteristics of modern civilisation is an ‘indefinite
multiplication of wants’, for the satisfaction of which one was constrained to
‘forage far and wide for raw materials and commodities’. He believed that by
228 Journal of the Anthropological Survey of India 68(2)

contrast, the pre-industrial civilisations were marked by an imperative restriction

upon, and a strict regulating of, their wants.
The objective of Gandhi was to have ashrams in every village, which were
intended to reform and install basic human values in every human being to
cultivate goodness in the human society and the environment around. Gandhian
workers established Ashramas in the remote tracts of Panchmahals, mainly
inhabited by the Bhils, who got settled permanently only in the last quarter of the
twentieth century. Earlier, they reportedly practised a system of shifting cultivation,
known locally as bhatta or dahdia. The practice of shifting cultivation declined
due to the interference of British administration and imposition of direct taxation
system in 1860–1870 (Sengar, 2004). Before the entry of Gandhians and Gandhian
ideology in the areas of Bhils, they were suffering a lot due to unemployment and
addiction to liquor. It was under these circumstances that Gandhians entered in
these areas and left their footsteps.
In 1918, scarcity of rains led to famine conditions in almost all parts of Gujarat.
In Panehmahals, the scarcity of fodder and food became very acute. Eighty per
cent of the district population consisted of Bhils. They had no means of subsistence
beyond the agricultural produce. A large part of their land was already in the
hands of the moneylenders, which aggravated the already acute scarcity conditions.
British government was not ready to declare it as drought. Ultimately, in 1919–
1920, Sukhdev Vishwanath Trivedi took the first initiative on the part of the
government for drought relief and rehabilitation work among the Bhils with the
help of Sir P. T. Purushottam Das, who was the Secretary of the Drought Relief
Committee of the Indian National Congress. During this relief work, the miserable
condition of the tribe had been noticed. Purushottam Das and Trivedi brought the
condition of the Bhils to the notice of Gandhi. Immediately, Gandhi informed the
Servants of India Society, Mumbai. Thakkar was sent for a field survey of the
region. The survey revealed that the tribals were poverty-stricken, illiterate,
ignorant and heavily indebted; harassed by the Government servants and exploited
by moneylenders (Sengar, 2004).
Thakkar Bapa decided to start social work of a permanent nature to save tribal
people from exploitation and to impart education to tribal boys. He started an
ashram school at Mirakhedi in Jhalod taluka as an experiment. This experiment
remained successful to a certain extent. For expanding the work, Thakkar Bapa
started Bhil Sewa Mandal in 1923; the objective of the organisation was imparting
education and their emancipation both economically and socially. Bhil Sewa
Mandal slowly progressed with the operation of primary schools (Bhil Sewa
Mandal, 2000, p. 3; Viyogi, 1977). Bapa decided to set up a permanent organisation
for the service of the Bhil community. His dream was realised with a small ashram
in Mirakhedi (see Constitution of Bhil Sewa Mandal, 1955). Bapa devoted his life
to the social upliftment of his Bhil brethren. He also provided equal service to the
communities of the untouchables, like Dheds, Bhangis, Dabgars and Chamars
(see Report, Bhil Sewa Mandal, November 2003, pp. 1–2). Apart from poverty
alleviation, cultural development, especially spread of literacy and education and
eradication of superstitions among the Bhils, was another target of Bhil Sewa
Mandal. Over the years, Bhil Sewa Mandal opened many schools, hostels,
Chakrabarty 229

ashramshalas or residential school and balwadis (nursery for children) (Shastri,

1965). Bhil Sewa Mandal began the work of education among tribal people. Tribal
boys used to get free education along with cost-free lodging and food facilities.
But the major challenge for the workers of Bhil Sewa Mandal was the education
of tribal girls. Education of girls in Bhil society was not encouraged. The
apprehension was that investment in girl’s education would be a waste of time,
and she should better get married rather than invest her precious time of youth in
studying. Gandhians have constantly worked for women’s education. They
believed that educated tribal women would definitely bring social change. At last,
two girls of Bhil-Patelia community were admitted in ashramshalas of Jesawada
and Mirakhedi in 1930–1931. Later, four more girls joined the Jesawada Kanya
ashramshala (Andrews, 1925). For all such activities, Gandhi’s direct support and
involvement was the driving force. Gandhi paid a visit to Dahod to see the progress
of Bhil Sewa Mandal. He believed that tribal are the most genuine people, the
only thing they are required to do is to (a) abstain from eating flesh, (b) abstain
from taking intoxicating liquor, (c) use homespun clothes, (d) speak the truth and
(e) live cleanly (Lal & Solanki, 1979).
The reformist activities initiated by the Gandhians in the territories of
Panchmahals had widespread impact on the people. The educational expansion
drew growth of ideas along with the opening of widespread avenues of social and
economic prospects. The chosen community men took appropriate use of the
services given. Realising the importance of education, many took to further their
education and succeeded in creating appropriate niche for themselves in the
Government service sector and in broader social milieu. Apart from education,
different socio-economic welfare activities gave people an opportunity to prove
their skills in management and politics and generated a sense of confidence among
the tribal communities of Dahod and Panehmahals and helped them in improving
their social consciousness. The most concrete evidence of the success of Bhil
Sewa Mandal was that it involved more and more people from Bhil community in
the organisational level (Sengar, 2004).
Vedchhi movement was another example of Gandhi’s thought towards tribal
welfare. It was unique and significant than other movements of tribal welfare in a
way that it raised the voice for equal status to tribals with non-tribals. The initial
months of Gandhians in Vedchhi were spent in knowing about the regional
heritage (Desai, 1982). Vedchhi is a small village lying in the taluka of Valod of
Surat district. Valod was the core centre of Gandhian activities.
The growth and success of Vedchhi Movement in the region is because of
various reasons. As just noted, Vedchhi village was situated in Valod taluka, at the
borders of Baroda State and British State, in between hill tracts and plains,
comprising both non-tribal and tribal societies. The British State did not support
social reform movement, but with the support of Baroda State, social reform
could evolve in Vedchhi and associated area. In January 1925, Gandhi presided
over the third Raniparaj Conference held at Vedchhi. The conference gathered a
large amount of crowd, constituting both tribals and Gandhian nationalist leaders.
Gandhi was highly impressed by the gathering and its enthusiasm for Khadi. In
praise of the meeting, he wrote, ‘Whilst the arrangements for the conference at
230 Journal of the Anthropological Survey of India 68(2)

Sojitra were simple and effective. Those at Vedchhi surpassed all expectations’
(Gandhi, 2006).
Gandhian influence found wider expression in different sectors of activities in
tribal regions of Gujarat in relation to the other states in Indian Union. In due
course of welfare activities, the focus gradually changed from reform orientation
of the tribes to what got labelled as constructive activities (Sengar, 2004). Gandhi
emphasised on the development of self-reliant village communities, with its major
components being production of one’s own cloth, establishment of village
industries (gram udyog), basic education, removal of untouchability and
maintenance of basic hygiene and sanitation. On the advice of Gandhi, his
followers like Jugatram Dave, Chunnilal Mehta and Uttamchand Shah moved
into tribal areas and worked towards making the tribal people conscious about
literacy, basic education, social reforms and taking to economically constructive
activities rooted within their own contexts. These leaders also continued to
mobilise them for participating in the nationalist movement (Sengar, 2004).
Gandhi’s first exposure to the deprivation and problems of tribal people was in
South Africa. The newspapers brought the news of the outbreak of Zulu rebellion.
He appealed to the British government to allow him to form an Indian Ambulance
Corps with the Indian people in South Africa. His appeal was accepted, and he
received the approval immediately. In his words, ‘On reaching the scene of
“rebellion” I saw that there was nothing there to justify the name of “rebellion”.
There was no resistance that one could see. The reason why the disturbance had
been magnified into a rebellion was that a Zulu chief had advised non-payment of
a new tax imposed on his people, and had assegaied a sergeant who had gone to
collect the tax. At any rate my heart was with the Zulus’ (Gandhi, 2006). His team
was to nurse the wounded Zulus as white people were not willing to nurse them.
Gandhi wrote, ‘The Zulu “rebellion” was full of new experiences and gave me
much food for thought’ (Gandhi, 2006). He opined, ‘This was no “rebellion” but
a man-hunt’ (Gandhi, 2006).
After his return to India in 1915, he came across Indian tribes during his
Satyagraha of Champaran in 1916. His tryst with tribes of India did not make him
consider these communities as separate from other marginalised people called
shudras. Gandhi considered the deplorable condition of both the communities to
be same (Gandhi, 1984). He advised his followers among Congressmen to work
for the empowerment of tribes and Harijan. He believed that Swaraj, the self-rule,
would have its rule in gram-swaraj (self-reliant villages), as almost 90 per cent of
the population lived in villages and a majority of them was constituted by the
depressed classes (Clements, 1988). He intended to empower villagers so that
they could participate in the nationalist struggle.
Gandhi’s intention was to improve the condition of all. The idea of independence
and the service to the fellowmen was expressed by him in the concept of sarvodaya
or ‘good of all’. The welfare of the depressed communities, the dalits and the
tribes remains a priority under sarvodaya. Thus, the term is often referred to as
antodaya, i.e., ‘rise to the last men’ (Sengar, 2001). Gandhi’s opinion of tribal
welfare was mainly an outcome of his constant association with Thakkar Bapa. It
was due to Bapa’s constant information and appeals that Gandhi pursued the
Chakrabarty 231

cause of the tribes. On Bapa’s complaint that constructive-programme neglected

mention of Adivasis, he wrote:

The complaint is just; many other causes are included in the constructive programme by
implication. But that could not and should not satisfy such a humanitarian as Thakkar
Bapa…. The Adivasis should have found a special place in constructive Programme.
Non-mention was an oversight. Anyone who hopes to construct Swaraj on the founda-
tion of non-violence cannot afford to neglect even the least of India’s son. Adivasis are
too numerous to be counted among the least (Sengar, 2004).

The Gandhian approach regarding tribes was the culminated thought of both
Gandhi and A. V. Thakkar: The tribal people should be approached on the basis of
non-violence, accepting the principles of a democratic society and the fundamental
equality and unity of man, in a spirit of love, service and humanity. It must not be
a process of social domination and political imposition, but a process of common
effort and understanding. The so-called ‘primitives’ should retain the naturalness,
health and physical beauty of their life and environment. They should take to
civilisation without its insanity, without seeking prosperity and success of a few
through the exploitation of the many (Sengar, 2004). In her research, Sengar
(2004) showed that in nineteenth century Gujarat, the Princes ruling over the
tribal areas also contributed effectively to the welfare of the tribal people through
establishing schools and subsidised education to end their seclusion from other
societies. But it was mainly restricted to their individual effort. It is mainly the
influence of Gandhi and his ideology of sarvodaya that a consciousness had been
growing up among the urban people about the welfare of the rural people.
The concept of sarvodaya became important because of its basic idea of
welfare of all and with the purpose to bringing the majority of Indians in the
struggle for independence. Gandhi believed that it was pointless to imagine
Independent India without the participation of its rural masses, which formed the
majority of Indian population. His thought of welfare always centred on the
poverty-stricken marginalised section of the Indian population, including castes
and tribes, and especially the women who were the most vulnerable. Gandhi was
successful in identifying the neurosis of the society.
It is already mentioned that Gandhian ideas found more expression in Gujarat
than any other states in India. His ideas were given shape in the ashrams of
Sabarmati-Ahmedabad and Sewagram-Wardha. After 1920, at Gujarat Vidyapith
in Ahmedabad, he made special efforts in this regard where young men and
women were trained to serve village India. Through the network of his institutions,
Gandhi guided the people working for the purpose of rural welfare in different
parts of India and Gujarat. The young men who evolved themselves on the ideals
of Gandhi came to be known as Gandhians.
Gandhi had trusted followers like Thakkar Bapa, Jugatram Dave, Indulal
Yagnik and Kakasaheb Kalelkar who devoted their life to the cause of tribal
welfare. The later volunteers were trained and oriented towards their work at
Gujarat Vidyapith. Their goal was the holistic development of the tribal people
through education, health awareness, eradication of superstitious beliefs and
232 Journal of the Anthropological Survey of India 68(2)

practices and the promotion of traditional art and crafts such as Gram Udyog
(cottage industry). These Gandhians were aware of their exploitation by
moneylenders and colonial administrators and tried to protect the tribes through
cooperative movement among them. Gandhians motivated the tribal people to
adopt satyagraha as means of protest against their exploitation instead of armed
protest. This new form of protest proved not only effective for the tribes but also
changed the attitude of the mainstream people who generally considered tribes to
be violent and aggressive.
The activities of Gandhians among the tribal communities of Gujarat
ceaselessly continue to work even after Independence. After Independence they
needed the support of Government to extend to them the rights to sustain and live
with equal dignity at par with other communities of India. Thakkar Bapa
effectively intervened in the Constitution Assembly of India resulting in the
special provisions regarding the administration of the tribal communities of India.
Bapa also began the Bhartiya Adimjati Sevak Sangh which united all the welfare
bodies working for the tribal communities. This body continues to influence the
developmental policies planned for the Tribal communities of India.
Gandhi’s thought on the upliftment of the underprivileged castes and societies
were much shaped by Thakkar Bapa who had long been exposed towards the
sufferings and exploitation of these people. Gandhi’s experience of Zulu ‘rebellion’
in South Africa made him understand the deprivation and exploitation of these
people in reality. In spite of many limitations of his work undertaken among the
tribes, as pointed out by his critics, like absence of thorough understanding of the
tribal cultural mosaic or inability to reach to every layers of tribal people, Gandhi
and Gandhian ideology in the field of social welfare of the marginalised people no
doubt reveal the truth of his humane spirit which wanted welfare of universal
beings and to provide the vulnerable people a foothold of a dignified life.
Unfortunately, he did not get whole-hearted support from the then top nationalist
leaders. Had the Gandhian ideas been adopted by the then leaders, Indian scenario
would have been different today.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship
and/or publication of this article.

Funding
The author received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of
this article.

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