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 every house. There is no need to visit a common Mandir. There is no compulsion to visit a Church or a Masjid. Each one conceptualises his own idea of God. Vinoba wanted that every human being should be empowered, Therefore, he wanted the unit of administration to be as small as possible. He pleaded for Gram Swarajya.” We want to see the power.to manage its own affairs vested in the village, that is in the hands of the villagers. They should, for example, stand up and decide for themselves what things they will produce, and they should inform the government what things they wish to exclude. If the government cannot or will not stop these things coming in, the villagers must be bold enought to oppose it...

“Even if Delhi were to acquire the intellect of Lord Brahma, with four brains and eyes for all the four points of the compass it could never plan for and manage all the affairs of every village with benefit to them all. Therefore, we should have village planning instead of national planning. I said, “instead of’. It would be far better if ‘national planing’ really meant ’village planning’ and that Delhi should give the villagers whatever help they may need in their planning. Whatever we do is in the direction of decentralisation of the authority.“ (2)

This concept of decentralisation as a core concept of planning was never accepted by the Government in New Delhi. Vinoba was pleading for this decentralisation in 1953, when Jawaharlal was moving in the opposite direction. We were imitating GOSPLAN or Central Planning as practised in the USSR. in 1920. The edifice of Central Planning is collapsing in the entire bloc of East European countries and in Soviet Russia. It has simply not stood the test of practicability. It has just vanished. It is time we looked at Vinoba’s economic ideas without blinkers.

ith love, With love Gouits,

L.N. Godbole

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