GANDHIAN APPROACH TO RURAL DEVELOPMENT Arvind N.

Mafatlal Mahatma Gandhi, was probably the first among our leaders to promote rural development in India. On March 30, 1946 at the Prayer meeting at Urulikanchan before leaving for Delhi for final negotiation with the British, Gandhiji reiterated that we cannot retain power in Delhi without developing rural India. His concept of rural development meant self reliance with least dependence on outsiders. The Swadeshi Movement was launched through spinning and weaving to promote Khadi. This also provided livelihood to the rural people. The other emphasis was curb on consumption as excessive consumption causes pressure on resources and adds to wastage and pollution. His thought provoking statement, `there is enough on this earth to meet the need, but not the greed' has now become a universal slogan for ensuring environmental protection and sustainable development. The Gandhian model of development can provide solutions to our rural problems which are linked to the basic needs of the people, such as `Anna' (livelihood), `Akshar' (literacy), `Arogya' (health) and `Acharan' (moral values). While the development programmes should aim at meeting these needs, it is essential to blend these activities with `Dharam' - not any particular religion but the essence of all religions alongwith a focus on moral values - `Acharan'. In the absence of moral values, particularly non-violence, non- addiction to gambling, drugs and alcohol and marital discord, the development may shape our future generations as demons, instead of citizens of a civilised society. If one can insist on adopting moral values, it will be easy to curb one's greed and with sincere efforts, there will be no difficulty in meeting one's needs. I also believe that our natural resources although degraded and abused beyond sustainability, still have the potential to support our people. However, we need to discipline ourselves for managing our resources and environment carefully. This calls for a radical change in our planning strategy. Earlier, our rural development programmes were planned by the Planning Commission and thereafter at the state headquarters. Later on, we accepted the need for planning at the district level. However, I personally feel that the district is too large an area for implementing a specific development plan. Considering the variation in the quality of our natural resources and opportunities at the village level, I strongly advocate block level or taluka level planning. Such decentralised, `micro-level planning' should primarily focus on conservation and optimum utilisation of our water resources. As water is the basic need, supply of safe drinking water for our rural people should be the priority. We transport water hundreds of kilometers to set up our industries and to meet the demand in urban areas. Then why not for the rural people ? If we can ensure safe potable water for them, we can solve the major problem of health, because a majority of the health disorders in rural areas is linked with contaminated water. This can also reduce the drudgery of rural women who often have to walk barefoot a long distance carrying headloads of water throughout the year. Subsequently, our farmers need water to maintain their livestock and the surplus can be used for growing trees and crops. Our planning should also explore the possibility of making optimum use of the degraded land and unproductive livestock which are posing a threat to our environment. Wastelands spread almost over one half of the total land area in the country cannot absorb rainwater. The water and top

fertile soil flow through agricultural fields into the river resulting in floods and droughts. In this situation, the efforts and resources of our development agencies are diverted towards relief measures. Livestock, when left free for grazing, denude our pastures and forests. This further accelerates the process of soil erosion, floods and global warming. Hence our planning should give priority to convert our wastelands and non-descript livestock into productive assets for ensuring employment and livelihood in rural areas, while enriching our environment. It is difficult to motivate villagers to adopt family planning without assuring good health. Child care through nutritional awareness camps and Anganwadis should become an important component of our health care programme. Literacy too cannot be ignored, because in the absence of functional literacy, rural people cannot adopt appropriate technology. Even if they earn surplus money, they may not utilise it in the proper direction. This can be harmful for the community. As livelihood, education and health are inter-related, we need to tackle them simultaneously. This integrated approach can provide an excellent opportunity for the development agencies and field workers to interact with the rural people, who in turn can be motivated to particapte in development programmes. I am sure this new approach will bring about a radical change. This has been the approach of BAIF Development Research Foundation, founded by Dr. Manibhai Desai, a disciple of Mahatma Gandhi. BAIF also believes that the focus of a programme should be on the rural family rather than on a village. This is because the village has a heterogeneous character with respect to socio-economic status. If this important fact is overlooked, the benefits of development are invariably snatched by a few well-to-do families. As a result, the development agency becomes instrumental in widening the gap between the rich and poor. It is necessary to realise that the programme should be competent to attract the rural poor. Efforts should also be made to involve rural women who contribute to about 75% of the family responsibility through child care and development. BAIF entered the areas of dairy cattle production, run-off water harvest, horticulture, forestry, sericulture, bio-energy, skill-oriented training and community health programmes for development of women and children. Such activities enable the families to settle down within 5-7 years and develop their own infrastructure to continue the activities without external support. BAIF is presently providing livestock breeding and advisory services to a million rural families spread over 12,000 villages in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. An integrated programme to rehabilitate the weaker sections of the society on a hectare of degraded land through tree- based farming systems has been a major breakthrough for ensuring livelihood alongwith a clean environment. We are very fortunate that many of the State Governments have accepted this model of development as a replicable programme for eradication of poverty in rural areas.