The Economy of Permanence: A Quest for a Social Order Based on Non-violence (स्थायी अर्थतन्त्र)

Economy of Permanence
be the training grounds in which the villages will be prepared to take up the
responsibilities in regard to public administration and self-government. Hence
it is important that we should lay great emphasis on these village organizations.
When the village organization is properly formed it should develop a peculiar
culture of its own which will be a distinguishing feature of group, just as the
personality is of the individual. These aspects of village life should bring us
nearer to permanence. Human lives cover at best three score years and ten,
but these units based on village culture endure for all time. The quality of the
culture we develop will depend not only on human nature but also on the point
of approach we have adopted all along in this volume. We have been
approaching the problems as an application of the principles of non-violence
and truth to our everyday lives. If this is done carefully and attended to in
every detail conscientiously we shall realise a society based on these principles.
Sanitation: Personal habits of cleanliness-Villagers had generally a fairly high
sense of personal cleanliness derived through tradition and habit. Unfortunately
some of these good habits are being given up under a false sense of modernity.
Therefore the value of all good old personal habits of cleanliness should be re-
emphasised and where necessary new good habits included.
Collective or group cleanliness-This is the weakest link in our village life.
Village paths, roads, public places and tank bunds have all become so many
public latrines. Villagers answer calls of nature anywhere indiscriminately,
polluting most of the places on which people walk about and defiling even the
available drinking water. But the fault is not the villagers¹ wholly. There are no
organized latrines or urinals in a village and houses are so crowded and small
that each house has no such facilities. Therefore the construction and proper
maintaining of latrines, urinals and bathing places on common basis becomes
very necessary as also a plan to convert all rubbish and night-soil, etc., into
manure. Such a programme is necessary from the point of view of sanitation
and of village economy. The following details of group cleanliness are indicated
(a) Suitable and cheap drains, even if only open ones, and their periodical
claning and disinfecting with indigenous materials.
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(b) Use of drainage water for kitchen gardens and fruit trees and flushing
latrines.
(c) Collection of all rubbish and its conversion into manure.
(d) Keeping village wells, paths, tanks and open places clean and
uncontaminated.
(e) The making and maintaining of small gardens for the village public,
children's playground and clean little open spaces.
Health : 1. Village dietetics-Mal-nutrition is rampant in the villages. Villages
must be taught the nutritive values of different articles of food which are or
can be produced in the villages. Every family should understand the meaning of
a balanced diet and how to get it under village conditions.
The Health Department should take up educative work in this line in all the
centres seriously. The Government should prohibit rice mills within the centres
to begin with.
2. Drinking water-Supply of clean drinking water is a fundamental need. Many
more wells are required in the villages. Old ones need to be repaired. In some
cases clean and protected tanks will have to be made sources of drinking
water. This is one of the items which should secure immediate priority.
3. Preventive measures-Preventive measures against disease should be
emphasised more than curative measures. This means emphasis on balanced
diet, personal and collective sanitation and general healthy living with
provision for recreations and exercises.
4. Ordinary ailments and cheap remedies-Common village ailments and their
prevention and cure should be taught. Natural methods and cheap remedies
with suitable village herbs and drugs should be emphasised. Every family should
be supplied with and taught the use of cheap disinfectants. The Health
Department should investigate the value of poisonous herbs, weeds, etc., in
this connection.
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5. Recreations and exercises-Provision of space and equipment for open air
recreations and exercises should be made in every village. Exercises like
Suryanamaskar, asanas, and collective village games should be encouraged and
organized.
Housing: Better and healthier houses are an important item. Village houses are
insanitary, overcrowded and built without any common plan. This has to be
altered under a well-conceived plan which will be drawn up by the village
panchayat in consultation with public health and public works authorities
available near at hand. The following points need emphasis:-

1. Relieving congestion of village houses by providing extension sites for
   buildings under a plan.
2. Future house building to be on a co-operative basis.
3. Improvement of existing houses through educative propaganda.
4. Provision of some kind of drainage for individual houses and for the
   streets. The first is obtained by digging and maintaining soak pits which
   will be periodically cleaned and changed. The second is done through
   simple and cheap drainage system, even if open, which will be periodically
   cleaned and disinfected. Normally drainage water should be used for
   vegetable gardens and fruit trees.
5. Village houses being small and overcrowded, common latrines, bathing and
   washing places should be provided.
6. Immediate levelling up of all stagnant water pools and pits which become
   sources of malarial infection.
7. Laying out and improvement of village paths and roads on planned basis.
8. Model houses suited to village conditions should be made and exhibited by
   Public Health and Public Works Departments.
9. In select places where old village cannot be improved in sanitation and
   health conditions, an attempt should be made in transplanting the village
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progressively to a new site nearby with free gift of land and small building
subsidies on a co-operative basis.
10. In all new enterprises and schemes of house building care should be taken
to do away with the present segregation of the Harijan living quarters
from the rest of village.
Village Organization: Village organization can be undertaken under three
institutions- (1) A village panchayat for village administration on the basis of
Village Self-Government, (2) Multipurpose Co-operative Society for the
economic organization of the village and (3) a Gram Seva Sangha to mobilise
non- official support and initiative to back up the work of the whole scheme of
Rural Development on the basis of voluntary effort.

1. The village panchayat- There will have to be a village panchayat for each
   village or a group of villages elected on adult franchise, the villages being
   divided into wards for convenient sections for the purpose.
   The panchayat will have direct responsibility in regard to all village services,
   such as, village roads, village water supply, village education, village
   dispensaries, village sanitation, administration of justice within certain limits,
   village, lighting etc. These services will have to be compulsorily provided for in
   every village. If the revenue raised and allotted is not sufficient to provide for
   those services the deficit should be borne by Government.
   There will be another set of services like libraries, village halls, exhibitions,
   etc., which should be paid for partly by local contributions and partly by
   Government.
   There should be a panchayat union for all the panchayats in the selected areas.
   The duty of such a union will be to link up the various essential services under
   the village panchayats. The union will thus guide, supervise and co-ordinate the
   activities of village panchayats and audit their accounts. The union will further
   undertake basic or post-basic education and maintain bigger hospitals and
   maternity homes. An Assistant Engineer attached to the union will prepare
   estimates and execute all work.
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The union of panchayats will consist of representatives from the various
panchayats in the centre. It will get contributions from the panchayats and
grants from the Government.
N. B.-The village panchayats should be something more than mere
administrative agencies. They should help in training villagers generally in civic
responsibility, giving every adult knowledge of the rights and duties of village
citizenship. They should also take up the tasks of social reforms like the
abolition of common vices such as gambling, etc., abolition of superstitions and
social evils, like untouchability, etc.
Special organized efforts will have to be made for the uplift and assimilation in
the body politic of sections of societies like Harijans and Adiwasis who have
been victims of social injustice. The unfortunate condition of women is a more
serious problem which cannot be tackled singly by an institution or a
department. It is a matter of awakening social conscience and overcoming old
prejudices. Special attention will have to be paid in this direction. A few
women workers having practical approach and some knowledge of home
science (cooking medicines, weaving, tailoring, etc.) may prove useful for this
work.
2. Multi-purpose Co-operative Societies:- Just as the panchayat is the
instrument of political and administrative organization, the Multi-purpose Co-
operative Society is the instrument for the economic organization of the
village. The Multi-purpose Co-operative Society will deal with the following
items:-

1. The obtaining and storage of the food produce of the village.
2. The processing of food articles.
3. The balanced distribution of local products and of such imports as are
   necessary.
4. The stocking and supply of the instruments for agricultural operations,
   village industries, etc.
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5. The stocking and supply of raw materials like cotton, wood, metal, etc., for
local industries.
6. The marketing of finished products.
7. Arranging for the exchange of surplus village produce for necessary materials
and goods from outside.
8. The organization of important village industries as interrelated co-operative
units, so that, as far as possible profits and benefits are equitably shared by the
village community as a whole. Care should also be taken to see that the people
as a whole are gainfully employed so that the available (human resources) is
fully utilized. The object is that there should be no unemployment or under-
employment.
9. Up-to-date technicians and those with artistic training should be made
available to village artisans to help and improve their work. The cost of such
instruction and supervision should be borne by the Government.
10. There should be one fully trained Co-operative Inspector for each area.
11. Furnishing available information and guidance to the villages and villagers.
3. Gram Seva Sanghas -The question may be raised, where is the place for a
Gram Seva Sangha, where a panchayat and a Multi-purpose Co-operative
Society are together organizing village life. It should not be forgotten that the
village panchayat and the Multi-purpose Co-operative Society will be run only
by a few elected people whereas all the adults who have elected them will
have only a waiting and watching programme unless they are also harnessed to
constructive work under the various headings of village reconstruction. The.
Gram Seva Sanghas will be non-official voluntary bodies which would organize
all such work as will help the panchayat and the Multi-purpose Co-operative
Society to fulfill their task. Rural development officers and village development
officers and others should help in organizing, strengthening and utilizing the
Gram Seva Sanghas which should be autonomous bodies with their own
constitution, rules and funds. Government may give grants to these Gram Seva
Sanghas, but without fettering their autonomy. The Gram Seva Sanghas will
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organize bodies of voluntary Workers for village sanitation, for the regulation of
village meetings and festivals, for the protection of life and property in the
village and for various services on such occasions as the prevalence of
epidemics or floods or similar emergencies. In fact for every full-time paid
Worker under Government, Panchayat or Multi-purpose Society there will have
to be humerous non-official voluntary servants of the village from the village
trained for such work by the Gram Seva Sanghas.
NOTE:- We have dealt with Village Panchayats, Multipurpose Co-operative
Societies and Gram Seva Sanghas as the three instruments of village
organization. But the ultimate aim of village organization is village self-
sufficiency in food and clothing and other major needs of village life as also
self-reliance and self-dependence as far as possible as the foundation of village
life and all this to be achieved on democratic and peaceful lines.
Village Culture: Village culture is a much neglected item. Neither Village Self-
Government nor Village self-sufficiency will be real or permanent without the
Solid influence of village culture. India has evolved through the centuries a
village culture which has fairly stood the test of time. It must be rediscovered,
valued and developed. The village woman particularly indicates the inheritance
of this culture adding beauty and strength to village life. It has often been said
that a village grand-mother can put a university graduate to shame with her
practical wisdom and understanding of life and its problems. The following
suggestions are made to nourish village culture:

1. Study of village traditions and habits, village institutions and village history.
2. Study of folk songs, folk tales and folk art.
3. Recovery and improvement of artistic handicrafts and village art in general.
4. Organization of bhajans, kirthans, dramatics, etc., for village education.
5. Organization of village festivals and important religious occasions to
   strengthen the unity of village life without distinction of caste and
   community-people belonging to different communities should be encouraged to
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take part in each other's festivals and religious occasions in a spirit of common
happiness.
6. Organization of village libraries, village museums and village study circles.
7. Provision for healthy and open air recreations like games, folk dances,
excursions, etc.
NOTE-The reorganization of village culture should be creative and should aim at
giving the village a high sense of the values that should govern his life as an
individual and as the unit of a new society.
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XI. PILOT PLAN
Hitherto we have studied the various aspects of life which should be moulded
so to bring about an economy of permanence. We have indicated the lines on
which the country has to be organized.
To enable us to achieve this end it is necessary to have a laboratory unit, as it
were, and which will also provide a training ground for workers. Therefore a
village or a group of villages may be taken as the unit and work on all fronts
may be organized in the selected area or region on the lines hitherto
considered. For this work associations may be formed in such a way that the
member of each association will function as though they were independent
republics managing their affairs themselves in the various spheres of village
life. These may be termed 'Lok Seva Sanghas' working on a common plan.
Such Sanghas, when in full swing, will form the necessary 'Opposition' to the
government in as much as they would indicate to the government the lines on
which their administration may move.
In a competitive economy the executive part of government is checked and
directed by the opposition; but in an economy, as contemplated by us, based
on non-violence and truth, there can be no such opposition. Our effort should
be to attract government attention to our method of work and make them
imitate our schemes in the measures they undertake. This organization, in the
first instance, will be formed in various centres. These will ultimately join
together or be united to form the Lok Sevak Sangh. This will be a formidable
force and the government cannot ignore it. The policy of the Sangh will
therefore have considerable weight in the councils of the nation.
The following is a suggested organization for the Sangh:-
The Cabinet: The Lok Sevak Sangh will be composed of a cabinet of about 9
members including the President and a Secretary. Apart from the President and
Secretary, the other members will hold portfolios for various departments and
they will be the Sanchalaks of those departments. The departments will be : 1.
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Health, 2. Education, 3. The Economic Sector, 4. The Political Sector, 5. Social
Sector, 6. Publications.
Sanchalak's Council: The policy in regard to these departments will be settled
by the Sanchalaks in Council in the Cabinet. The Executing part of it will be
carried out by the Sanchalaks in their own departments with a council of their
own. The Sanchalak's Council will be composed of technicians of the different
lines of activity in their own department.
For instance the Health Council will be made up of a Mantri in charge of
Dietetics, another in charge of Child and General welfare, and a third in charge
of Sanitation and so on. Similarly, each such department will have its own
Council of Mantries over which the Sanchalaks will preside.
Committee of Mantries: These Councils of Mantries will be supported by
Technical Committees composed of provincial or regional representatives. For
example the Dietetic work Committee will be composed of the Mantri at the
centre in charge of dietetics and diatecticians from all over the country
belonging to provincial or regional organizations of the Lok Sevak Sangh. The
Technical Committee will, therefore, be able to exchange notes on the
experience in their own lines from all over the country.
Similar organizations will function in different regions. Thus, the country should
be covered with organizations of this type which will be working in an organic
unity.
Parliament of Sanchalaks: The Central Lok Sevak Sangh Cabinet will, from time
to time, call a Parliament of Sanchalaks from all the sister Provincial or
Regional Lok Sevak Sanghs and discuss questions arising out of policy.
In the same way there will be an Assembly of Technicians to exchange their
experiences and knowledge gained in their line.
Similar Councils of Mantries and Technical Comittees will function under each
of the departments.
Education: Education, for instance, will have pre-basic and basic education
imparted by various Talimi Sanghs, and another section will take up Hindustani
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Prachar and still another will have Vidyapiths for post-basic training which will
impart professional and occupational education on the University level, as well
as carry on research. Such Vidyapiths will be responsible for providing recruits
and training them to the required level, for absorption in the various phases of
the Constructive Programme.
The Vidyapiths themselves will be fed by the Talimi Sanghs.
The Economic Sector: The economic Sector will have under it the departments
of Agriculture, Gram Udyog and Multipurpose Societies along with political and
propaganda sections.
Agriculture will deal with all matters connected with the occupational as well
the self-sufficiency aspects to this vital industry. The former will be mostly
concerned with production for exchage, such as money crops. The latter will
feature production for use and will include growing of vegetable and fruits in
garden lands.
Animal Husbandry will carry on the work of Cattle Breeding, Sheep Breeding,
Goat Rearing and other allied industries such as Seri-Culture and Pisci-culture.
In this section will also be included Dairy Production and Distribution. This will
again have a bye-product section which will be closely connected with the
Primary Needs sub-section of the Economic Sector and deal in horn articles,
leather tanning, making of guts, glue etc.
Gram Udyog will, in the first instance, deal with food processing industries in
close co-operation with Agriculture Department. Another section of it will deal
with consumer goods including primary needs such as clothing, soap making,
paper making, pottery, tannery etc.
The Multi-purpose Societies will form the co-ordinating link between the
producers and the consumers and perform also the functions of distributors.
They will, obtain raw materials and dole them out to the producers collect the
finished articles and market them. As far as practicable they will render
functional aids rather than give financial help.
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The Political Section will be the connecting link between the economic
activities of the people and the Government. The Secretary in charge of this
section will be the liaison officer between the people and the Government. He
will contact the Provincial and Central Government, whenever necessary, to
shape the control of Key Industries in the interests of the people's activities and
assure proper functioning of controlled National Services.
The other section of this department will be for Propaganda which will
disseminate such information as is gathered by the Research Department of the
Vidyapith and other facts and figures which may be of use to the people, and
work in close touch with the Publication Sector.
Political Sector: The Political Sector will have a department in charge of the
organization of Village panchayats and other political bodies and a second
section will be detailed out with the duty of keeping in touch with Provincial
and Central Governments¹ activities and will function in close co-operation with
the liaison officer of the Economy Sector.
Social Sector: The Social Sector will have departments for 1. Communal Unity,
2. Uplift of Harijans and Backward Tribes, 3. Organizing Kisan Labour and other
workers, 4. Training of Youths and Volunteers Bodies in national work, 5.
Removing of the Disabilities of Women.
Publication : The Publication Department will take up Publications of books
which will be of permanent use, both as text books and as reference books, and
will also deal with the issue of periodicals, which will keep the various
activities in touch with one another and with the rest of the world. In this
department the Navajivan Trust may play an important role and the present
journal 'Harijan' may become transformed into the 'Lok Sevak' and carry on the
message of Gandhiji to all the Constructive Workers.
Conclusion: This may appear an elaborate scheme. But in practice it should be
simple of execution. The various Lok Sevak Sanghs will limit their activities to a
group of 15 or 20 villages with a population of 25 to 30 thousand people and
concentrate in their own sphere the various activities adumbrated above. The
experience gained in so running these institutions in full cooperation with the
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people will be not only an education in public affairs to the people, but will
also form a model to work upon for the Government and prepare the way to
realise in full measure the fruits of Swaraj of the proper type for the masses.
PLEDGE FOR MEMBERS OF THE LOK SEVAK SANGH

1. Having read the Constitution and Rules of the Lok Sevak Sangh, I offer to be
   a Member thereof, and God helping, promise to devote the best part of my
   energy and talents to the furtherance of its object which is the relief and
   service of the poor in the villages.
2. To the best of my ability I shall try to live up to the ideals of the Sangh.
3. In the discharge of my duties I shall seek the assistance and co-operation of
   all those who may be willing to give them, irrespective of differences in
   politics.
4. I will not take part in politics unless it be as directed or required by the Lok
   Sevak Sangh. If ordered to seek election to any of the Legislatures, I will live on
   such amount as is allowed by the Lok Sevak Sangh to its workers and turn in the
   excess, if any, to the Lok Sevak Sangh.
5. I will always wear only Khadi, made from self-spun yarn, or certified by the
   All India Spinners' Association and shall prefer the village manufactures to any
   other. I shall abstain from all alcoholic drinks. I abjure untouchability in any
   shape or form in my own person and in my family. I believe in inter-communal
   unity. I respect and hold in regard all religions. I subscribe to the equality of
   opportunity and status being extended to all irrespective of race, creed or sex.
   Signature
   Such organied Lok Sevak Sangh will be studded all over, the country leavening
   people in public affairs. They will form the training ground for statesmen who
   will have to shoulder the ¹ larger burdens in the national arena.
   Until the country is prepared to take up this type of organization and whole
   heartedly take to a society based on nonviolence and truth there can be no
   hope of any permanence in our economic, social or political life. The present
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type of organization based on competition and centralized industries lands us
periodically into terrific upheavals. These have to be avoided if nations are to
progress steadily towards a set goal, which will bring peace amongst nations
and prosperity to the citizen.
Only in such a state can we expect fair play for the weak, justice to the
common man, where might will not be right and i where there will be no
premium on deceit and exploitation. Such a society will not have the glamour
of ill-gotten gains; neither will there be the attraction of rackety carriers, but
it will have a steady upway trend towards a stable culture bringing man out
from the jungle bestowing on him the dignity of a human being. This calls for a
considerable amount of self-discipline and self- control. We hope these will be
forthcoming in the required measure and thus enable us to see the advent of
the economy of permanence.
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