Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Gandhian economic thought (8)

Views on Industrialisation and Technology

Continuation

We may reproduce two typical comments.

The first is from Young India (1931) wherein he writes:

“Industrialism is I am afraid, going to be a curse for mankind.”

The second is from Harijan (1936):

“Industrialisation on a mass scale will necessarily lead to passive or active exploitation of the villagers as the problems of competition and marketing come in.”

Gandhiji’s model of development was one in which every village produced all its necessities and a certain percentage in addition for the requirement of cities.

But he is no obscurantist, and he recognises that a moderate amount of industrialisation may be necessary for a nation’s survival.

He therefore concedes the existence of heavy industry, only cautioning that, “Heavy industries will needs be centralised and nationalised. But they will occupy the least part of the vast national activity which will be mainly in the villages.” - Gandhi writes (1941).



Used from paper of  D. M. Nachane

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