Gandhi Journal Article-II ( October 2016 ) - Skill Development in India - The Gandhian Perspective

Gandhi Journal Article-II ( October 2016 ) 

Skill Development in India - The Gandhian Perspective

By Dr. Y.P. Anand 

One of the primary ‘missions’ for taking India forward being pursued at present on a national scale is ‘Skill India’ or making Indians, especially its upcoming youth, much more skilled in the various crafts, trades, industries and professions.

It would act as an ideal inspiration for both the propagators and the students of ‘Skill India’ mission to know that Mahatma Gandhi, all through his long public life (1893 till 30 January, 1948) invariably insisted on use of better and higher skills for working in whichever task or field he happened to be concerned with at any time. He believed in a constant and continuous learning process including experimentation, keeping the ideal as the goal but also knowing that human beings must always keep improving and rising in their skills but can never attain absolute perfection. Hence, he also called himself a ‘practical idealist’, going from ‘truth to truth’. He himself practiced the pursuit of skill in whatever he did even more than he told others to do.

In this paper an attempt has been made to give a summarized presentation of the multi-faceted Gandhian perspective on the critical role, application and development of varied skills in the numerous fields with which he was involved. Though his interest in the promotion of skills related to nearly any major activity he came across was sustained throughout, his longest and deepest engagement remained with the promotion of the skills required in the propagation of khadi (particularly that of hand-spinning) and other village industries. The promotion of khadi and other village industries was an essential part of his lifelong struggle for India’s freedom from foreign rule as well as for removal of poverty and economic morass into which India had sunk.

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Gandhi Journal Article-I : Economic ideas of Mahatma Gandhi - Issues & Challenges

Economic ideas of Mahatma Gandhi - Issues & Challenges

By Dr. Suresh Maind

Abstract

Mahatma Gandhi had a multifaceted personality. His aim in life was to achieve enlightenment by serving his nation and mankind.  He was born in India and so he was of the opinion that it was his first duty to serve India. He did it through his thoughts, creative activities, different movements, organisations, and his own lifestyle. His creative activities can be classified in 18 forms which cover mainly political, economic, social, educational, religious as well as medical fields. Many forms of his activities were related to economic wellbeing of society. He was clear that economic self-sufficiency for an individual and for a nation is unavoidable. This led him to think about and study various economic problems of the country and devise action plans for solving them. This was the root of his economic thinking. His work, discussions or writings therefore, were not educational fancy but were the need of the hour. He knew that the major part of human life is busy in economic activities. In that case economic activities can never be without ethics and non-violence.

Gandhi's economic ideals, much like everything else in his life, were governed by ethical and moral considerations. His stress on rural economy and emphasis on a simple life, coupled with his concern for universal well-being formed the foundation of his unique views on economics. Gandhi's economic models were based largely on his understanding of the Indian situation. However, it should be stressed that Gandhi himself believed that the model could be employed on an international scale as well. It should be remembered that Gandhi's economic modes are particularly humanitarian in nature and for him no economic model is worth implementation unless it aims towards the general well-being of mankind.

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Gandhi Journal Article-II: Gandhian Economics : The need of the times

Gandhian Economics : The need of the times

By Dr. Sameer G. Thakur
 

Mahatma Gandhi's views on Economics have been largely ignored by mainstream economists and leaders, even in India. This paper tries to show that the neglect of Gandhian Economics has led to the major problems facing the global economy today.

Many of the problems facing India would be reduced, if not resolved if ethics was considered as an inseparable part of Economics. This is what Gandhi believed and events seem to be proving him right.
 

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Gandhi Journal Article - II

Gandhi- Leader of Millenniums

By Prof. Rina A. Pitale-Puradkar

Mahatma Gandhi represents a figure of unique integrity, consistency and humanity. The point of departure of his life philosophy and the basis of his theory and activity in practice are freedom and welfare of any human being and prosperity of peoples and nations of the whole mankind. Non-violence is the elementary and indispensable condition for the materialization of these noble goals. These principles and values represented a permanent source of inspiration in Gandhi’s guidance in his imaginative undertakings both in the struggle for freedom and independent development of India and the promotion of her role in the international community. As a matter of fact, Gandhi’s firm belief in the creativeness and openness of the people of India and his own active engagement for a peaceful and friendly cooperation among nations on equal footing, without any interference or imposition were inexhaustible sources of his personal wisdom and high credibility both as the father of modern India, as well as one of the major moral, spiritual and political international authorities of our times.

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Gandhi Journal Article - II

Let us read Gandhiji again...

By S C Jaini

Gandhiji was born in 1869 in Porbander, in a small principality of kathaiwar being governed by an Indian prince. His father was the Diwan in the court. The family was well provided for and had a comfortable living, in the given surroundings. His mother Putlibai, was a devout lady and had tremendous influence on the mind of young Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Like most homes, religion was taught early in life and the house open to holy men of all religions, who would be frequent guests of the house. Religious rituals including periodic fasts were part of the household culture. The elders of the household were held in high esteem and would be obeyed as a rule. The oldest brother of young Mohandas was responsible for his proper grooming and education, including the decision to go to England for his studies in Law. In school Mohandas was an average student with no spark of brilliance and did his work as any average student of his age. However one particular quality that set him apart from the others was his personal integrity. During one of the inspection by the Inspector of schools, the teacher prompted him to copy from the fellow student, to correct his mistake. Mohandas did not do as directed and was later reprimanded for his foolishness. Gandhiji records, that despite the fact that he did not approve of the cheating, his respect for his teacher remained undiminished.

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Gandhi Journal Article - I

Relevance of Mahatma Gandhiji's Ideology in the Context of Indian Democracy

By Dr. Shubhangi Rathi

Abstract

India follows the democratic type of Government. India is a big country and hence needs to be governed in a proper and an effective way. Mahatma Gandhi’s imagination of the democracy -fully encircled with non-violence exists in no nation of the world as up to now. His ideal is a stateless democracy, in which there is a federation of satyagrahi village communities, functioning on the basis of voluntary cooperation and dignified and peaceful co-existence are relevance in the context of Indian democracy. In the present day democracy, there is a great deal of centralization and inequality. Gandhian concept of Self Rule means Swaraj is real democracy, where people’s power rests in the individuals and each one realizes that he or she is the real master of one’s self. These issues are still relevant to what free India is and represent. The main cause of worry today is intolerance and hatred leading to violence and it is here the values of Gandhi need to be adhered to with more passion discussed in this paper. He is relevant not yesterday or today but forever.

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My Experiments with Violence

My Experiments with Violence

After working with the underworld, ‘accidentally’ killing his wife and spending 16 years in prison,  Kripashankar Dawar was reborn as Paul. Here, he talks about how Mahatma Gandhi transformed him.

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