Taste of Life: Doer of Gandhiji's philosophy of decentralised democracy

Hindustan Times

22-05-2025

Pune: The Government of India Act of 1935, a landmark piece of legislation, brought about significant democratic reforms in India. It granted a large measure of autonomy to provinces, ended the 'dyarchy' system at the provincial level, and introduced direct elections.
Mahatma Gandhi had been talking and writing about the implementation of democracy since the 1920s. His model of democracy and development was based on an upward movement of authority from the base to the apex, unlike the British model. He imagined a democracy where the village was the core unit. For this to happen, the people had to be educated and the village self-reliant. The concept of 'gramoddhar', or village upliftment and development, was thus central to Gandhiji's philosophy of decentralised democracy. However, this development was not limited to material wealth. He wanted the villagers to be spiritually and intellectually equipped to be able to think and make decisions about themselves, their villages, and their country.
As a result, India in the early 1930s witnessed a heightened discussion centred on the upliftment and development of villages that gained momentum after the reforms of 1935. That the villagers were uneducated and hence not eligible to participate in the democratic process was a favourite argument of a certain section of the society. Gandhiji and his followers not only staunchly opposed this, but also made efforts to bring about a change.
Reverend AG Hog, principal of Christian College, addressed students at the convocation of the Madras University on August 10, 1935. He said, 'More than ever before India needs to find in her citizens qualities of the kind which is the function of the universities to foster and develop. She needs citizens, men and women, who learn to think for themselves and to act as they think and whose judgements have the well-informed and sympathetic wisdom that comes from wide and wisely chosen reading. She needs those who seek a charitable and sympathetic understanding of views with which they disagree. She needs those who speak nothing but the truth. Where, if not to her universities, shall she look for such citizens?'
The Marathi newspaper 'Dnyanaprakash' in its editorial on August 14, 1935, quoted this speech to stress upon the need for 'gramoddhar'. It appealed to the educated class to work in villages and urged the universities to modify the curriculum to make education more inclusive. It also featured an article next to the editorial about the work done by Mr DS Modak in the village of Mundhwa.
Modak, the personal assistant to the Collector of Poona, believed in 'gramoddhar' and was one of the few who walked the talk. In the 1930s, he did some exemplary work at Pimple, Ranjangaon, and Mundhwa, the villages around Pune. He worked hard to make these villages models for 'gramoddhar'. Mundhwa was five miles from Pune and known all over Maharashtra for its paper mill, which was visible from the Hadapsar Railway Station.
But the village was far from clean. Sewers from Pune flowed into Mundhwa. There were puddles of dirty water everywhere. The roads were always full of mud during the monsoon and dust flew everywhere during the summer.
Modak decided to change this. But he wanted the change to come from the villagers themselves.
He knew that the villagers could not be ordered around. The importance of self-reliance had to be explained to them without being condescending. He had to treat them with respect and dignity. He had to earn their trust and he could not do so by living in Pune.
He started spending a lot of time in Mundhwa. He visited the village every Sunday and sometimes after work. He ate with the farmers and went to their farms with them. He strived hard to make them see him as one of their own.
In 1934, the residents of Mundhwa were convinced of the need to improve the condition of their village. The villagers decided to build a drainage system themselves in the village without relying on the government. Groups were formed who took turns to volunteer with the construction activity.
A few months later, Mundhwa boasted of clean roads and a fairly sophisticated drainage system.
Modak invited the 'Gramsudhar Samiti' (village improvement committee) constituted by the Congress party to visit the village. The Samiti was impressed and requested Modak to continue with his work.
Modak often discussed the economic upliftment of their families with the farmers. He realised that the money earned from farming was not sufficient to guarantee a decent standard of living and that additional activities were necessary to supplement the income.
He introduced beekeeping and jam-making to the people of Mundhwa.
Mr Balaram, who worked with the agricultural department, visited Mundhwa every Sunday to teach the vocation of beekeeping. Mr Narhar Gangadhar Apte spent a month in Mundhwa to teach jam-making.
There were many orchards, gardens, and sugarcane farms in Mundhwa. The guavas from the village were quite popular in the Bombay Presidency. The proximity of these gardens was stimulating for the bees to build their hives.
Fruits like guava were cheaper in season and resulted in losses for the gardeners. But the business of guava jam made sure that they did not incur any more losses. When the market did not fetch a decent price for guavas, instead of selling the fruit at a low price, the farmers made jam that could be sold throughout the year in the markets of Poona Cantonment and Bombay.
The additional income from selling of jams resulted in an increase in the enrolment at the local school. A night school was soon started for adults. Children of farmers and herdsmen who worked during the day attended this school.
Modak also introduced soap-making as a business in Mundhwa. He had told the Samiti that the upliftment of villages was not possible unless the income and purchasing power of the villagers did not improve. According to him, better roads, buildings, and drainage systems did not mean much unless the villagers had sustainable sources of income that enabled them to sail through emergencies like famines and floods. The income also enabled them to seek better education.
In this regard, he put forth a proposal for land consolidation during a meeting with the Samiti. This consolidation of holdings was supposed to benefit the farmers in several ways -brokerage would be curbed, farm income would increase, and the living conditions of the farmers would improve.
Many residents of Mundhwa wholeheartedly embraced the scheme and tried to persuade every landholder to accept consolidation.
I do not know how long Modak continued to work at Mundhwa.
In his address, Rev Hog said - 'Remembering that India consists mainly of villages, I can conceive of nothing more noble, and for a true son or daughter of a university nothing more appropriate, than a life spent in combating the ignorance and other social ills that hold villages of India in thrall.'
'Maharashtra', a Marathi daily published from Nagpur, complained on January 18, 1936, that public lectures related to village upliftment were usually crowded, but there were very few people in cities like Nagpur, Pune, and Bombay who participated in this work. It wrote that if one tried to see how much work was done in villages, they would be disappointed.
Modak and the villagers of Mundhwa were honourable exceptions. They took up 'gramoddhar' when India was about to enter upon a constitutional experiment, the precise issues of which no one could foresee.
Gandhiji's genius lies in combining democratic principles with the upliftment of villages. Perhaps it is not too late to revisit his ideas.
Chinmay Damle is a research scientist and food enthusiast. He writes here on Pune's food culture. He can be contacted at [e-mail]