PROSPERITY VERSUS DHARMA
NOT only an absence of material prosperity but also an excess of material prosperity leads to an end of Dharma. This is the special point of view of this country. The West has not thought of the result of material means. When these means create an addiction to them or to the things and pleasures to be had through them, then we can say that material influence has been established. In the absence of material wealth it ceases to be a means and becomes an end in itself. When there is too much of it, it ceases to be a means of righteous conduct and becomes a means of sensual pleasure. As these pleasures have no limit a person given to them will always feel a want of wealth and at the same time his addiction to pleasures will reduce his capacity to produce wealth.
SWADESHI AND DECENTRALISATION
“SWADESHI” and “Decentralisation” are the two words which can briefly summarize the economic policy suitable for the present circumstances. Centralization and monopolization have been the order of the day for all these years, knowingly or unknowingly. The planners have become prisoners of a belief that only large-scale centralized industry is economic and hence without worrying about its ill-effects, or knowingly but helplessly they have continued in that direction. The same has been the case with “Swadeshi” The concept of “Swadeshi” is ridiculed as old-fashioned and reactionary. We proudly use foreign aid in everything, from thinking, management, capital, methods of production, technology, etc. to even the standards and forms of consumption. This is not the road to progress and development. We shall forget our individuality and become virtual slaves once again. The positive content of “Swadeshi” should be used as the cornerstone Of reconstruction of our economy.
DEPENDENCE ON WESTERN ECONOMICS
NOT only because of different ideals of life but also because of different conditions in terms of time and place the way of our economic development will have to be different from that of the West. But we are tied to Marshall and Marx. We believe that the economic principles they have discussed are eternal. Even those Who realise that they are dependent upon certain systems are not able to step out of their orbits. The economic prosperity of the West has created a blind belief in us about the Western system of production. Western economists have produced so much critical literature that we easily feel overwhelmed by it. We cannot rise above it. It is possible that this science of economics may have some principles that do not depend upon time, place or system and can prove useful to all, but very few have the capacity to assess this quality. Our education cannot create people with such a capacity. Our economists may be experts in Western economics, but they have not been able to make any solid contribution to it because the Indian economy can neither provide them the necessary thought nor the necessary field for experimentation.
NO RIGHT ETERNAL
NO fundamental rights, whether related to property or other things, are eternal. They are all dependent upon the interest of society. In fact these rights are given to the individual in order that he may perform his social duties. A soldier is given weapons because his duty is to protect society. If he does not do his duty he loses the right to bear weapons. Similarly the right to property is given to an individual so that he could do his duty by society. For this purpose it becomes necessary to define and modify these rights from time to time. No right to property is absolute of society.
RIGHT OF OWNERSHIP
THE right of ownership is actually the right to use a particular thing within definite limits and for a definite purpose. These rights keep changing with the times. Hence as a matter of principle we may not get entangled in the quarrel between the individual’s rights and the right of society. For us the State is not the only form of society. We believe that the individual, the family, the community, the State are all different forms in which society expresses and fulfils itself. The joint family is the practical unit in this country in which we seek to preserve the social sense in the individual, in which every individual has the right to earn, but the right of ownership vests in the family. Wealth is used for the benefit of the family. It is this Indian principle of Trusteeship that has been propounded by Gandhiji, Guruji and other thinkers.
OWNERSHIP RIGHT FOR WORKERS
IT is a matter of surprise that today a share-holder in joint stock companies, who has no other connection with the company except a share in its profit, should be able to exercise ownership rights while the worker who works in an industry, sets its machines into motion and depends upon it for his livelihood should experience a feeling of being a stranger to it. This feeling is not proper. It is therefore necessary that along with the share-holder the worker should be given ownership rights and a share in its management and profit.
RIGHT TO FOOD
THE slogan commonly heard now-a-days is “one must earn his bread”. Normally communists use this slogan, but even the capitalists are not fundamentally in disagreement with it. If there is any diflerence between them, it is only as regards who earns and how much. The capitalists consider capital and enterprise as important factors of production and if they take a major share of profit, it is because they think it is their due. On the other hand, communists believe only labour to be the main factor in production. Therefore they concede a major share of production to the labourers. Neither of these ideas is correct. Strictly speaking, our slogan should be that he who earns will feed and every person will have enough to eat. The right to food is a birthright. The ability to earn is a result of education and training. In a society even those who do not earn must have food. The children and the old, the diseased and the invalids, all must be cared for by society. Every society generally fulfils this responsibility. The social and cultural pro- guess of mankind lies in the readiness to fulfil this responsibility.
FOOD VERSUS FREEDOM
WHILE imports may help us tide over our present difficulties, the real solution to the problem lies in maximising agricultural production in the country. That we have not done sufficiently in this direction needs no saying. The present agreement is an eloquent testimony to the Government’s failure on this front. With the passage of time we have become increasingly dependent on foreign sources. We fear that due to availability of food in plenty at present the Government may become complacent in their efforts to raise production locally. The US Ambassador feels that America is following this policy only to let the struggling people of the democratic world realise that “there can be both freedom and food”. But what we want is our freedom and our food. That is possible only if we revive our old slogan of “Freedom from foreign food”. Dependence on foreign sources will impoverish and entangle us.
ECONOMIC DEMOCRACY
IF a vote for everyone is the touch-stone of political democracy, work for everyone is a measure of economic democracy. This right to work does not mean slave labour as in communist countries. Work should not only give a means of livelihood to a person but it should be of the choice of that person. If for doing that work the worker does not get a proper share in the national income, he would, be considered unemployed. From this point of view a minimum wage, a just system of distribution and some sort of social security are necessary.
RESTRAINT OF FOREIGN AID
IT is also important that we should be self-reliant in the economic field. If the fulfilment of our programmes depends upon foreign aid it will certainly be a restraint, whether direct or indirect, upon us. We would be pulled into the sphere of economic influence of the aid- giving countries. In order to save our economic plans from difficulties we may have to many times keep quiet. A country which acquires the habit of depending upon others loses its self-respect. Such a nation can never assess the value of its independence. It is also certain that no country would give us aid to be used as we think fit.
It will examine our plans and then we would have to make such plans as can be in accord with foreign aid even if they are not in our interest.
FOREIGN CAPITAL
IT is suggested that the shortfall of capital in the country should be made up by foreign capital and we are importing foreign capital to a very big extent in different forms. Even if we keep aside the political aspects of foreign capital its economic utility extends to a particular point and not further. The popular idea is that foreign capital means money which we receive and which we can use as we think fit. This is not the truth. Foreign capital has to be used in foreign countries and hence it cannot be an alternative to domestic savings. When we invest domestic savings in the form of capital we are icing employment not only to the people in a particular industry but to many others outside it, such as those making the machines and other ancillaries required for the industry in which we invest.
Foreign capital can be obtained in three ways (a) from individual industrialists, (b) from international organisations, and (c) from foreign governments. They can do this either by giving loans or by becoming partners.They can either set up their own industry in the country or collaborate with the Government or private industrialists within the country. In all these possible alternatives the basic point is that it is not for us to decide whether the machines or other implements on which we shall spend our money outside the country are useful to us. We shall even have to accept foreign technology. Foreign technicians and industrialists would produce goods in our country with processes and machinery available and currently used in their own country. This can help industrialisation to a certain extent but It cannot build a firm industrial base for the country.
EFFECTS OF URBANISATION
ACCORDING to Western economy the level of urbanization is considered the basis of development. In India too the number of big cities and their population are gradually increasing. In the life of the West cities have created a number of social, moral, political and health problems. A large amount of money is spent on them. In the climatic condition of India, crowded living is all the more harmful for us. This is one of the main reasons of the spread of TB and other deadly diseases.Slums are also increasing in our cities. Hence the need of the times is not new cities but industrialisation of villages,
CAPITAL PROJECTS
MANY times capital industrial projects are taken into hand for the sake of prestige. It is felt that the capacity to produce capital goods would raise our prestige in the eyes of the world. But this is not an economic truth. For such capital production we shall not only have to keep our standard of life at a low level for a long time but we will also have to sacrifice democratic principles in the political field.
LABOUR-INTENSIVE PRODUCTION PROCESS
WHEN we think of the means of production in India we arrive at the firm conclusion that our production process must be labour-intensive. In the first place we are short of capital and when we convert it into fixed capital on the basis of labour-saving projects this capital flows out of the country. Further our old machines become obsolete, which increases the speed of decapitalization and disemployment. The rising unemployment in turn depresses tile standard of living of most people instead of raising it. A complex Western production process can jive employment to a few people but it cannot set into motion a dynamic process which can bring about a revolutionary change in the country’s economy. If we want such an industrial system, it should be in consonance with agriculture and should give adequate importance to small industries.
INDUSTRIAL CORPORATIONS
IF we are to conduct our industries with success, it is necessary that they should be conducted on a completely commercial basis within the interest of society. Hence they will have to be kept aloof from party politics, which changes from day to day. From this point of view they should be conducted by autonomous corporations.They should have freedom in their day-to-day conduct but should be under parliamentary control. In point of the participation of workers in the management public sector industries should give the lead to other industries.
WHO IS A TILLER?
LAND for the tiller does not by any means mean that he who ploughs the field will be the sole owner of the land and he cannot benefit from the services rendered by others. He should have the right to employ labour as required. The tiller should generally mean the person who is responsible for the production of crops in a particular field, invests money in it and takes care of it. It is not important how many agricultural jobs he per- forms himself and how many labourers he employs.
COOPERATIVE FARMS
A FAMILY represents the ideal ‘from every man according to his capacity and to every man according to his needs’. Tradition has helped to inculcate this feeling amongst the members. The karta of a family does not depend upon the votes of the members. No training classes have been, and need be organised to train him how best to discharge his responsibilities. He does it instinctively, following the ways his forefathers had followed. But In a cooperative we are faced with the crucial problem of how to distribute the produce. When people with all sorts of lands and with no lands and those with varying rights in land are joined together, it is practically impossible to divide the produce equitably. It may be done equally but that will not be equitably.
BASIC NECESSITIES
BY and large we can see that food, clothing, shelter, education and medical attention are the five basic necessities of every individual which should be fulfilled. If we want to assess the material standard of life of any country we could take these as a starting point. If any class of a society does not. get these facilities, we may say that the standard of life of that society is not developed.