Mahatma Gandhi And Gandhian Economics

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, as a leader of the India’s independence struggle, employed non violent civil disobedience and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom. Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for reducing poverty, generating employment, rural development, expanding women 's rights, building religious amity, ending untouchability and for achieving ‘Swaraj ‘or self-rule. Mahatma Gandhi absorbed ethics and nonviolence in economics. He advocated trusteeship, decentralization of economic activities, labour intensive technology, and gave priority to rural India. He emphasised of the development of agriculture and village industries. He was not an economist yet he propagated a novel way of thinking in science of economics. The term "Gandhian economics" was first coined by J. C. Kumarappa, a close supporter of Gandhi. Gandhian economic thought is based on four fundamental principles of Truth, Non-violence, Dignity of Labour and Simplicity. Gandhi believed in simple living and high thinking and advocated that moral progress is more important than material progress. Accordingly in his economic thought, he gave importance to man rather than wealth associated with man. His economics is of normative in character. With Gandhi, economics is a part of a way of life. He refused to recognise economics as a separate from ethics. As he struggled against the British imperial power on basis of non-violent theory and satyagraha, he laid before us the principles of an alternative and