CHARACTERISTICS OF AN IDEAL STATE ACCORDING GANDHI JI’S

Topic Cover –B.A Sem-I 

Submitted By

Dr. Jiwan Devi

   Dept. of  Political Science

HMV Jalandhar, Punjab, India

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INTRODUCTION

• Mahatma Gandhi was opposed to the nature of the present day state.
• According to him the basis of the present day is violence .
• It is not the means but has become an end in itself and more and more powers are getting concentrated and centralized in the state.
• Mahatma Gandhi wanted to establish an ideal ,stateless society.
• His ideal stateless society would be an assemblage of self-sufficient and self-regulating villages.
• Each village will be independent unit which would be called a Republic.

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• But Gandhi ji had realized that under the present conditions, a stateless, a classless and an absolutely non - violent society cannot be formed.
• He agreed to the view that the state cannot be absolutely non violent because it is to represent various types of individuals.
• Explaining his views about the ideal state Mahatma Gandhi said "It can be religiously translated as a Kingdom of God on earth.
• Politically translated ,it is a perfect democracy in which there shall be no inequalities based on wealth , colour caste, religion ,sex etc."

CHARACTERISTICS OF AN IDEAL STATE

• According to Gandhiji the state suppresses the personality of the individual as a result of this an individual fails to develop fully to his personality.
• Gandhi's ideal State was a non-violent state of enlightened anarchy where social life would remain self-regulated.
• In that State there is no ruler, no subject, no government or no governed.
• So Gandhiji was in favor of such a state having the following characterisitics:-

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STATE IS A MEANS ,NOT AN END

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• Contrary to the idealistic theory of the state, Mahatma

Gandhi considers the state as a means towards an end.

• He said "The state is not an end in itself , but a means of enabling people to better their conditions in every department of life "

LIMITED FUNCTIONS OF THE STATE

• Gandhi ji was opposed to the idea of the concentration of powers in the hands of the state .
• He was in favor of the minimum interference of the state in the life of man.
• He approved the popular dictum that "That government is
• the best which governs the least“.
• In order to achieve this objective Gandhiji favored the idea of arming the local self-government with more powers.
• Major work should be done by such local self governing units.

ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE OF ANIDEAL STATE

• Democracy will be the basis of the ideal state and man

the nucleus of it.

• A Panchayat would fulfill all the needs in a village . Gandhiji favored the idea of converting each village into an "Independent Republic.
• Police would be guided by the concept of non violence and its aim would be to serve the people. Jails would be converted into "Reform Houses’’.
• The basis of this type of society will be "voluntary co-operation" and decentralization of the powers.

SECULARISM

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• Gandhiji wanted his ideal state to be a secular state .
• He was of the view that there should not be any state religion and that every religion should be given equal respect.

DEMOCRATIC SYSTem

• Gandhiji favored the establishment of a repro-sentative democratic system in the ideal state .
• He advocated that the majority in the state should take the minority along with it.
• Gandhiji was of the view that the right to fight election should be given only to those persons who prove their selflessness and the spirit of service and sacrifice.

Economical and Political Decentralization

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• Gandhiji favored the concept of each village being made as an independent unit with its Panchayat being armed with maximum powers and autonomy.
• For economic decentralization Gandhiji was in favor of small scale and cottage industries.

VARNA SYSTEM

• Gandhiji was a staunch critic of the varna system, but he was also in favor of preserving it because, according to this system each individual shall try to adopt the profession of his forefathers.
• This will also eliminate the unnecessary economic competition among the people

CRIME,PUNISHMENT,JUSTICE

• According to Gandhiji , crime is a malady like most of the social diseases .
• This is the creation of the contemporary social system. Therefore we should have sympathy for the criminals and should help them to mend and reform their lives.
• He stressed that we should hate sin and not the sinner.
• Gandhiji wanted speedy and inexpensive administration of justice .
• It should also be decentralized.

EMPHASIS ON MANUAL LABOUR

Gandhiji laid great emphasis on doing manual labor. According to him this will create dignity of labor among people, diminish the distinction between the rich and poor , will develop mutual cooperation among them and will also make people aware about the importance of labor and the production will also increase.

TRUSUTEESHIP SYSTEM

• Gandhiji wanted to introduce trusteeship system in ideal state.
• He was of the opinion that the rich people should have the freedom to earn wealth .
• But he was in favor of educating the rich people that they were not the owner of the property , rather they were the trustees of it and it should be used for the welfare of the general public.

NO PLACE FOR IDLERS

• According to Gandhiji there was no place for idlers and shirkers in an ideal place .
• He gave special importance to manual labor and he was of the opinion that everyone will have to work as much as was essential for him to earn his livelihood which was known as Gandhiji's principle of "Labor for Bread".
• By working the man will remain physically fit and will have self- respect.

NON-VIOLENT STATE OF GANDHIJI

• Basis of the state shall be non-violence.
• people will co-operate making use of the technique of satyagraha democratic administration shall be established every individual shall impose self-discipline over himself there shall be decentralization of powers and the panchayats shall be given more powers.
• shall be less crimes in non-violent state jails shall be converted into reformatories.
• Justice shall be cheap and the judicial process shall be Gandhiji was in favor of the establishment of a non-violent state.

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CONCLUSION

• Gandhiji was against the nature of contemporary state and he wanted to end it.
• He was aware of the limitation of the abolition of the state . Thus he favored the existence of the state with it's limited functions and jurisdiction.
• State should be given limited functions to perform , it's powers should be decentralized and it should be based

upon real democratic principles.

• He wanted that non-violence should be the basis of the state.

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THANK YOU!