Elaboration of Gandhi ji’s Eighteen point progamme

Published: 28th Dec, 2019

Elaboration of Gandhi ji’s Eighteen point progamme

Communal Unity: Peace and Communal Harmony are the backbone of national unity and it is the foundation for development. Mahatama Gandhi sacrificed his life for the cause of Communal Unity.
Removal of Untouchability: Gandhi emphasised that there was no religious sanction for practising untouchability and the causes and origin of this inhuman custom has to be rooted out.
Prohibition: Gandhi felt so strongly about this addiction because it not only affects the social and economic condition of the families but destroys the moral fibre of the society which is essential for nonviolent struggle.
Khadi: Khadi symbolises self-reliance, self-sufficiency and swadeshi. Charkha became the symbol of the independence movement and khadi became the identity of nationalism.
Other village industries: Gandhi conceived khadi as centre, like sun in the solar system, and other village industries revolving around it like other planets.
Self-reliant village republics were his vision of India: Therefore, village industries are essential to keep the rural workforce engaged in economic activities, which will in turn support the sustainable development of the rural economy.
Village Sanitation: Gandhi was very much concerned with sanitation. He said, we should "make our villages models of cleanliness in every sense of the world."
New or Basic Education: He was aware that education is the backbone of our civilisation. Gandhi wanted a new education to transform the mindset of the people.
He developed system of education for new social order. Gandhi said that the new education, "develops both the body and the mind, and keeps the child rooted to the soil” with a glorious vision of the future in the realisation of which he or she begins to take his or her share from the very commencement of his or career in school."
Adult Education: Adult Education does not stop with teaching illiterates to read and write. Gandhi said, "if I had charge of adult education, I should begin with opening the minds of the adult pupils to the greatness and vastness of their country."
Women: Gandhi demonstrated the power of women to the world. He said, women should not be called weaker sex; actually they are very strong in their own field, in which men are very weak.
He also said that men and women are not equal but complementary to each other. He believed that women empowerment will give them rights and honorable position in the society and lead to development of the nonviolent social order.
Education in Health and Hygiene: Gandhi had a holistic vision of health and hygiene. The art of keeping one's health and the knowledge of hygiene is by itself a separate subject of study and corresponding practice.
Provincial Languages: Gandhi always insisted that everyone should learn through mother tongue. Gandhi observed that,"Our love of the English language in preference to our own mother tongue has caused a deep chasm between the educated and politically-minded classes and the masses.
National Language: Gandhi insisted that mother tongue should be the medium of delivering instruction and at the same time he was also in favour of a National Language.
Economic Inequality: He said, economic equality "is the master key to non-violent independence. Working for economic equality means abolishing the eternal conflict between capital and labour.
Kisans: Agriculture has been one of the most affected sectors by one of the most affected sectors by the modern development strategies. In gandhi's schemes of villages swaraj, agriculture is the centre of all activities and it should support the farmers to lead a decent living. Therefore, farmers should be taken care of it you need a real development. He explained his own experiments in Champaran, Kheda, Bardoli and Borsad and said, "The secret of success lies in a refusal to exploit the kisans for political purposes outside their own personal and felt grievances."
Labour: He established a unique model of Trade Union for the Textile workers in Ahmedabad. Labour force should be organised not to disturb the development but for the overall development of all stakeholders. Adivasis: Due to their innocence and ignorance, Adivasis are always exploited by the selfish people. To protect the Mother Nature, we need to protect the Adivasis and their traditions.
Lepers: Gandhi used to clean the wounds of the leprosy-affected Sanskrit scholar Parchur Shastri while he was in sevagram Ashram.
Students: Gandhi observed,"it is from these young men and women that the future leaders of the nation are to rise. Unfortunately, they are acted upon by every variety of influences."