In this article we will discuss about:- 1. Philosophy of Bhoodan Movement 2. Why Bhoodan Movement 3. Evolution 4. Objectives 5. Important Phases.
Philosophy of Bhoodan Movement:
Bhoodan is formed of two words Bhoomi (land) and Dan (donation). In other words, Bhoodan is the voluntary contribution of land from the haves to have not’s. Gift of land was a common practice in olden days commonly known as Muafi i.e. gift of land or giving the land in charity either to gain favour of God or for some religious deeds. But Vinobaji’s Bhoodan is free from any motive and if at all any, that too is novel and fruitful.
“Land” says Vinoba, “is the mother of all and everyone has a right to serve her. The landless have an equal claim to it.” He further defines it as “free gift of nature,” which “like air and water belongs to no individual but to God and everybody is entitled to share it and enjoy its yield. That is why we do not beg for gifts but demand a share to which the poor are rightly entitled.”
Bhoodan underlines “the spirit to help to create a non-violent atmosphere.” It says, “Generate such an environment that you solve your problem yourself.” In the words of Dr. Radhakrishnan, “the movement is preparing the public mind for a drastic and economic revolution which will be brought about by consent, not by coercion.” Further appreciating Shri Bhave’s efforts he says that “the Bhoodan has ushered in a new chapter in the socio-economic reconstruction of the country.”
Sarvodaya Principle:
Sarvodaya is a philosophy of life and its basis is that simple living is to be preferred to the complexities of modern life, as it brings more contentment and happiness which is what human beings seek. The complexities of modern life have the seed of unhappiness in them. It is, therefore, necessary to reduce these complexities to make mankind happier.
Secondly, there is not enough supply of material goods in this world to be able to satisfy the ever-increasing wants of human beings. This results in the strong exploitation of the weak and help people in accumulating wealth so that their present and future wants might be satisfied as and when they arise. This results in the concentration of economic power and all the evils which are attached to it. A satisfactory way of breaking the vicious circle and solving the problem is to deliberately reduce human wants so that the available material resources might suffice to satisfy our needs.
In this way, Sarvodaya depends on the theory of wantlesness. For all-round real progress, material progress, intellectual progress and spiritual progress should go together. Sarvodaya is a harmonious combination of spiritualism and materialism and brings about both material and moral progress simultaneously. It has got all the advantages of socialism but it avoids nationalisation of industries and concentration of economic power in the hands of few persons and it gives the utmost freedom of thought to every individual.
Why Bhoodan Movement?
All over the world agrarian problem is the chief problem. On one hand, there are rich landlords who do not work but grow rich by exploiting the labour of the tiller of the soil while on the other hand, there are the landless labourers. The problem has been solved in various ways. In Russia, the revolutionaries adopted the path of force and bloodshed. In China the same method was followed. Abolition of Zamindari took place in Kashmir without any compensation. India has got its own problems.
Fortunately, zamindari has been abolished in almost all the states, but at the cost of huge sums of money paid to the zamindars by way of compensation. Secondly, India is faced with the important problem of food production in the economic sphere. The Grow More Food Campaign, First, Second, Third, Fourth and subsequent Five Year- Plans are all to combat this evil. Thirdly, the rehabilitation of landless agricultural workers requires an early action. The land problem in India is being tackled on all fronts.
Abolition of landlords is one device, security of tenure is another, land reform enactment is third, ceiling on land holdings is fourth and so on. But the nonviolent way is the cardinal way today to solve land problem. India is known for countless ages for the spirit of renunciation. In India, honour is shown not for grabbing wealth but for giving wealth. Acharya Bhave exhorted this feeling and with his unique method based on love and sacrifice started the campaign of bhoodan i.e. the provision of land to the landless agricultural workers.
Evolution of the Bhoodan Movement:
The Bhoodan movement was started in Telangana in South India on April 18, 1951 with the first donation of 100 acres of land by zamindar Shri V. Ramchandra Reddi to Shri Acharya Vinoba Bhave. This land was distributed among the Harizans of Telangana. Subsequently, the movement became popular, being a revolution not from above but from below, with its foundations among the people themselves.
Associated with Bhoodan Vinobaji was also launched the Sampattldam, Koopdan, Haldan, Grihdan, Shramdati, Buddhidan, Gramdan and Jivandan. Dr Rajendra Prasad had said “Shri Achaya Vinoba’s yajna will not be completed till such time as those, who are given land received in Bhoodan do not get the necessary assistance for their rehabilitation.”
By the collection of land gifts and redistributing it among the landless it is expected to solve the mighty problem of providing land to the landless persons which the legislation so far failed to achieve. Bhoodan bade goodbye to the feeling like selfishness, hatred and suspicion and class-conflicts and exhorted all possession big or small, to be donated to the society’s common pool for redistribution according to needs.
Objectives of Bhoodan Movement:
The object of the movement was to keep away from ‘power’ and create Jan-Shakti or self-reliant strength of the people, a strength which while being difficult from legal might and opposed to armed force, would be superior to both of them. Call it Jan-shakti moral might love-force or soul-power its medium is love, not the empty lip service, but love accompanied by wholesome love enjoying sacrifice. And as an initial expression of the same, Vinoba called forth for a change in land ownership from the hands of individual to that of society declaring that, “All land belongs to Him.”
Land redistribution being a minor part of it the real purpose was to raise land to the pedestal of one of the five elements to abolish its trade for all time and to provide every tiller with it to the required extent. In other words, it implied that he who eats must perform bodily labour and that manual work is as important and elevating if not more, as any other. What we have belongs to the society, what we are is due to society. Society, therefore, is the virtual owner of what is with us and we can only act as trustees on its behalf. It aimed to bring about a peaceful agrarian revolution in the country.
Describing the aims of the movement, Acharya Bhave says- “In a just and equitable order of society, land must belong to all. This is why we do not beg for gifts but demand a share to which the poor are rightly entitled. The main objective is to propagate the right thought by which social and economic maladjustments can be corrected without serious conflicts.”
The basic precepts of the movement are:
(i) Land belongs to all and its use ought to be as universal as that of air and water. Individual ownership ought to be reduced to the minimum.
(ii) Possessors of land owning greater quantity than they could personally cultivate ought to share it with the landless, desiring to cultivate it.
(iii) In order to create the necessary atmosphere for the elimination of economical inequality, small as well as large land holders ought to be appealed to share their land in common with their less fortunate landless brothers.
Important Phases of the Bhoodan Movement:
There are two important phases of the movement, viz., collection of land and its distribution. Shri Bhave had an ultimate aim of distributing 50 million acres of land, i.e. one sixth of India’s cultivated land among the country’s 10 million landless families. It was the most difficult phase of the movement. The main reason for this was the lack of a well-defined scheme of distribution. Though there is well defined process of distribution, its implementation is not as effective as the collection side.
Land donated under Bhoodan Movement is highest in Bihar (21.18 lakh acres) followed by Orissa (6.39 lakh acres) Uttar Pradesh (4.37 lakh acres) and Andhra Pradesh (2.52 lakh acres).
The Table given below shows:
Since January 1957, the emphasis was shifted to gramdan. The movement, started in Hamirpur district of U.P., was subsequently extended to other States. At present it is probably the best organised in the Koraput district of Orissa. But the progress is still slower and up to the end of March 1970; only 37,775 villages were received in gramdan.
A simple workable formula has been evolved of sulabh gramdan.
The villagers sign a declaration which contains essentially for basic conditions:
(i) We are giving a minimum of 5 per cent of our cultivable land for the landless of the village;
(ii) We are giving the ownership of our land in the Gram Sabha of the village our right to this land (after deducting 5 per cent for the landless) will continue;
(iii) We will create a village fund by contributing to it one-fortieth of the produce of our land, and
(iv) All adults of the village will form the Gram Sabha which will function either with unanimity or consensus for the benefit of all people of the village.
When at least 75 per cent of the land owning people of a village have signed the declaration and at least 51 per cent of the total land has come under its purview, the village quantities to be declared as a Gramdan village.
In gramdan entire land in a village is handed over to the village community. Each family is given 5 acres of land for personal cultivation while the land is cultivated by the community as a whole. The idea is that each family should have land according to its needs. The payment of taxes, malguzari and the repayment of taqavi lands are made from the output of the common land. The artisans, ironsmiths, barbers, etc., who serve the community get corn from the common land.
The basis of Sarvodaya Samaj in Gramdan villages is that of economic self-sufficiency. The cultivators provide food and raw materials and the artisans produce the necessary requirements of the village community such as agricultural implements, pots, utensils, cloths and shoes etc.
Gramdan movement was superior to the Bhoodan movement as:
(i) But to entire life of the village community;
(ii) The difficulties of Bhoodan such as the donations of uncultivable land, legal and other difficulties of redistribution were done away with on the basis of need. It made it easier to achieve Vinoba’s ideal of Sarvodaya Samaj; and
(iii) With gramdan villages it became possible to correlate the Bhoodan movement with economic planning in the country.
The Second Plan recognised the fact that the practical success which is achieved in the development in gramdan villages will have great significance for co-operative village development.