Gandhian Gram Swaraj

The structure is not a pyramid. In a pyramid the base supports the apex and the apex directs the base. Gandhi rejects that picture.

It is a set of ever widening, never ascending circles. The individual is at the centre, always ready to perish for the village; the village for the circle of villages; and so outward, until the whole becomes one life composed of individuals, never aggressive in their arrogance but ever humble.

The outermost circumference does not crush the inner circles but gives strength to all within, and derives its own strength from them.

The political content of the image. Authority runs from the individual outward rather than from the state downward. That is the exact inverse of the arrangement every modern state has, and it is why Gram Swaraj is not simply a proposal for stronger local government.

Why Gandhi believed in it

Scale. A person can influence a decision taken by a hundred neighbours and cannot influence one taken in a capital, so real participation requires small units.

Self-reliance. Dependence on a distant power, whether a foreign government or a national market, is a form of subjection.

Non-violence. A centralised state is organised force, which Gandhi described as violence in a concentrated and organised form. The less centralised the arrangement, the less force it requires.

Character. Self-government develops the people who practise it, which is the argument Mill makes for participation and Green makes for positive freedom.

And an economic argument. Village industry uses the labour that India has in abundance rather than the capital it lacked, which is chapter 750's disagreement with communism.

The criticisms

An answer that gives Gandhi and stops has given half the topic, because MU sets Ambedkar in the same breath.

Ambedkar's objection, which chapter 880 gives in his own words, is the fundamental one: the village was for the excluded not a republic but the place where their exclusion was enforced most closely.

Self-sufficiency and poverty. A village producing everything it consumes forgoes the gains of specialisation and exchange, and is likely to remain poor. This was Nehru's disagreement.

Small units are not necessarily democratic. A village dominated by one family, one caste or one landholder is not more free for being small; it is less free, because the dominant party is closer and cannot be escaped.

Some functions cannot be local. Defence, currency, railways, epidemic control, environmental regulation and the redistribution of resources between rich and poor regions all require larger units.

And the practical objection. Villages are not equal in resources, so village self-sufficiency freezes the inequality between them, and only a larger unit can transfer resources from a rich district to a poor one.

What survived of it

The proposal was not adopted and it was not discarded either, and saying exactly what happened is the strongest close to an answer.

Article 40 directs the State to organise village panchayats and to endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of self-government. That is Gandhi's phrase in a Directive Principle, and chapter 890 works out how it got there.

The 73rd Amendment made panchayats constitutional bodies with guaranteed elections, reservation and a defined place in the structure, which is chapter 900.

The Gram Sabha, in article 243A, is the one body in the Indian constitutional scheme composed of every adult voter of a village, and it is the nearest thing in Indian law to Gandhi's assembly. Chapter 920.

What was not adopted. The village as the unit of the Constitution, self-sufficiency as an economic policy, and the oceanic circle as the structure of authority. India adopted a strong centre, a federal structure and individual rights, and then added local self-government beneath them.

A worked example

A village of two thousand people must decide how to use a common pond, whether to build a road to the highway, and what to do about a dispute over a boundary.

On Gram Swaraj, all three are settled in the village, by a panchayat the villagers chose this year, meeting where everybody can attend. The pond is a village asset; the road is decided by those who will use it; the boundary is settled by neighbours who know the facts.

The strengths are visible. The people deciding are the people affected. The information is local. The decision can be revisited. Nobody has to travel to a district headquarters.

And so are the weaknesses. If the pond has always been closed to one community, the panchayat that decides is drawn from those who closed it. If the boundary dispute is between a large landholder and a labourer, the tribunal is composed of the landholder's neighbours and dependants. And if the road requires more money than the village has, the decision is not the village's at all.

That paragraph is the whole of the topic. Gandhi's case for the village is that it is close, and Ambedkar's case against it is that closeness is exactly what the excluded suffer from. Both statements are about the same fact.

Distinctions that carry marks

What Gram Swaraj is NOT

It is not merely decentralisation. Decentralisation devolves powers from a centre that retains them. Gram Swaraj reverses the direction: authority begins in the village and is lent upward.

It is not a claim that villages were once like this. Gandhi acknowledged what villages were and described what they should become, and much of the constructive programme was aimed at village conditions he regarded as intolerable.

It is not anti-national. The oceanic circle ends in a whole; what it rejects is a whole that directs its parts.

And it is not what the Constitution adopted. Article 40 and Part IX take a great deal from it and reject its central proposition, which is that the village should be the unit.

Quick revision

1. Gram village, swaraj self-rule, and Gandhi's distinction: independence is the removal of a foreign government, swaraj is rule over oneself, beginning in the person.
2. The village: self-sufficient; full authority over agriculture, industry, education, sanitation, health, watch and ward and disputes; a panchayat chosen annually by the adults, combining legislative, executive and judicial functions; non-violent; bread labour, swadeshi, trusteeship.
3. The oceanic circle: not a pyramid but ever widening, never ascending circles, the individual at the centre, the outermost circumference giving strength to all within and deriving strength from them. Authority runs outward, not downward.
4. Why: scale makes participation real; self-reliance; a centralised state is organised force; self-government builds character; and village industry uses labour rather than capital.
5. Criticisms: Ambedkar's, that the village enforced exclusion; self-sufficiency entrenches poverty, which was Nehru's objection; small units are not necessarily free; some functions cannot be local; and self-sufficiency freezes inequality between villages.
6. What survived: article 40's "units of self-government", the 73rd Amendment, and the Gram Sabha in article 243A. What did not: the village as the constitutional unit, self-sufficiency, and the oceanic circle.

Test yourself

1. What did Gandhi mean by swaraj, and how does the meaning generate Gram Swaraj? He distinguished independence, the removal of a foreign government, from swaraj, which is rule over oneself and begins with the individual's control of their own conduct. On that meaning a country whose foreign rulers have left but whose people are governed from a distant capital they cannot reach has independence and not swaraj. Gram Swaraj follows directly: self-rule at the level of a country is real only if it exists at the level of the village, and at the level of the village only if it exists in the person.

2. Describe the oceanic circle and state its political content. Gandhi rejected the image of a pyramid, in which the base supports the apex and the apex directs the base, and proposed instead ever widening, never ascending circles: the individual at the centre, ready to perish for the village, the village for the circle of villages, and so outward until the whole is one life composed of individuals, with the outermost circumference not crushing the inner circles but giving strength to all within and deriving its strength from them. Its political content is that authority runs from the individual outward rather than from the state downward, which is the exact inverse of every modern state's arrangement.

3. Why did Gandhi believe self-government must be local? Because participation is only real at a scale where a person can influence what is decided, and nobody can influence a decision taken in a distant capital. Because dependence on a distant power, whether a foreign government or a national market, is itself a form of subjection, so self-reliance is part of self-rule. Because a centralised state is organised force, and the less centralised an arrangement the less force it requires. Because self-government develops the character of those who practise it. And because village industry uses the labour India had rather than the capital it lacked.

4. State the criticisms of Gram Swaraj. Ambedkar's, that the village was for the excluded not a republic but the place where their exclusion was enforced most closely. Nehru's, that self-sufficiency forgoes specialisation and exchange and condemns villages to poverty. That small units are not necessarily democratic, since a village dominated by one family, caste or landholder is less free for being small because the dominant party is nearer and cannot be escaped. That defence, currency, epidemic control, environmental regulation and interregional redistribution cannot be local. And that self-sufficiency freezes inequality between villages, since only a larger unit can transfer resources from a rich district to a poor one.

5. What survived of Gram Swaraj in the Constitution, and what did not? Article 40 directs the State to organise village panchayats and endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of self-government, which is Gandhi's phrase in a Directive Principle. The 73rd Amendment made panchayats constitutional bodies with guaranteed elections and a defined structure, and article 243A created the Gram Sabha, the only body in the constitutional scheme composed of every adult voter of a village. What was not adopted is the central proposition: the village is not the unit of the Constitution, self-sufficiency was not adopted as economic policy, and authority runs downward from a strong centre through a federal structure rather than outward from the individual.