Gramdan sarvodaya

is a program for the “welfare of all unto the last”. The Government has made significant contributions towards panchayat raj. This can only be implemented by full cooperation on the part of the villagers and village-level workers. In our area we are making a special attempt to have regular monthly mahasabha meetings. This reminds one of the old Town Meeting of New England which became the foundation of American democracy. Certainly we cannot expect any other such foundations than those which will be made in our villages. These village assemblies elect their own panchayats which become the administrative channel for the decision of the mahasabha. In the Batlagundu area, common projects are growingly seen in the gramdan villages. Slowly common funds are being started. Common labour programs have been initiated. In the Government development program provision has been made for Volunteer Forces. In Tamilnad we are making special efforts to have village Shanti Senas. We still need to develop a rural youth movement. Some good work is being done. However, such work must be made more universal. At least in three gramdan villages in this area land has been shared with the landless. However, it is becoming clear to me that this sharing cannot go on indefinitely. For example, in Kannavaipatty the absentee landlords own more than the people living in the village. There is no other solution of the land problem: the absentee landlord must give his land to the landless. The people are slowly being organized to carry out such a program. However, all resources in India, both Government and non-official, must be mobilized to solve this serious problem. Only then can we truly take sarvodaya and all good Government programs fully to the people, especially as we try to produce more food.

Basic Education

India has yet to understand the full meaning and appreciate the significance of Basic Education, especially at the village level. It pained me yesterday to hear that the Education Department was sabotaging Basic Education by not providing cotton at least for the schools ready to take up this project seriously. Surely, an experienced educationist must recognise the importance of the training of body, mind and spirit. The use of a craft like the cotton craft helps in the integration of such training and especially in the village situation. But even more important is the need for the complete integration of the village school and the community development program. When Ponnuraman of Kottaipatti returned from Israel he said that he was most impressed by the care of the children on the part of the various communities in Israel. He suggested that if there was a village hostel in connection with the Basic Education school in his village this would help gramdan greatly. Surely, the patterns of cooperation in the gramdan village, and now in all of India, are most important. If the community is to be trained in cooperation it must start at the school. Here again the Government should help us to carry on pilot experimentation.