(Sanghnomics is a weekly column that tracks down and demystifies the economic world view of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and organisations inspired by its ideology.)
India needs not only development (vikas) but right development (samyak vikas). So, what exactly is the right development? Ravindra Mahajan, who edits ‘Ekatma Vikas Patrika’ a journal on ‘integral humanism’ has brought certain characteristics of this model of development in his seminal work National Policy Studies in the light of Ekatma Manav Darshan.
Ekatma Manav Darshan is the philosophy of integral humanism propounded by Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya in the 1960s. It is also the official ideology of the present day Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), an ideological mentee of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Upadhyaya was an RSS Pracharak (full time worker) who was later deputed to work in Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), the predecessor of BJP. The BJS was set up in 1951 and it was merged into the Janata Party in 1977. But after the collapse of Janata Party government at the Centre in 1980, the members of BJS formed the Bharatiya Janata Party which later adopted the ideology of ‘Integral Humanism’.
The cornerstone of the ‘Right Development Model’ explained by Mahajan is based on the philosophy of ‘Integral Humanism’. According to Mahajan, Samyak Vikas or right development will mean fulfilling physical and psychological needs and leading towards the spiritual fulfilment individually and also a happy, contented, prosperous society leading to the common weal.
The following constitute the important principles of the ‘right development’ model:
- There should be an integral view comprising geographical areas, economic sectors, sections of society, and all-round development (physical, psychological, cultural, spiritual) of individuals should be taken. All walks of life including social, cultural are to be optimally developed. Sub–optimization will create problems.
- The ‘Right Development’ model calls for moving from ‘want-creating’ to ‘needs-satisfying’ approach. Unlike the current economic models that push for maximising consumption the ‘Samyak Vikas’ model emphasises that consumption should be minimised. One should get more happiness out of minimum consumption. In the Indian context this approach regarding consumption is also called Sanyyamit upabhog.
- All the natural resources should be used with great restraint not affecting their capacity to sustain. This capacity can be enhanced with benign policies and actions. Thus, sustainable development is an essential constituent of ‘right development’. In nature the development cannot be linear but circular and we also have to adapt to this.
- India needs to imbibe Swadeshi in all walks of life. It is essential to attain self-reliance in major sectors.
- It is important to realize the full potential of technology. It is also important to use appropriate technology. In this context, the traditional technologies should be upgraded as and when required. They shouldn’t be discarded just because they are traditional. With the right kind of upgradation, they should be given an appropriate place and role in the task of nation building.
- Development should be through social consciousness - a mental frame of mind where even common people are inspired by the urge to improve and are ever prepared to take initiatives for realization of the goals.
- There should be a mix of both- centralized approach and decentralisation. They should be complementary. While our major focus should be on decentralization in all sectors, we might need a centralized approach for dealing with giant problems and schemes as well as foreign governments, institutions or multi-national companies.
- ‘Dharma’ should be our guiding and regulatory principle. People need to work with self-regulation, independent regulation, and government regulation in that order of preference. Development or economics should not be divorced from moral considerations on the plea of business being business.
- Full Employment (with stress on self-employment), efficiency, productivity and quality are the objectives that are to be simultaneously pursued
- For evaluation and development, we need to have the right yardsticks. There is no need to borrow these yardsticks from the foreign economic models. We need to have our indigenously developed yardsticks that are rooted in our socio-cultural context.
- There are several non-economic motivations like patriotism, sense of duty/responsibility, pursuit of excellence etc. They also need to be harnessed for the ‘right development’.
- The fruits of development should be taken to the disadvantaged sections on priority. This is also known as ‘Antyodya’ which literally means rise of the one who is standing in the end!
- There should be no compromise with national sovereignty and integrity of the country and building deterrent strength is essential to pursue national goals.
- Samyak Vikas i.e ‘right development’ will have no place for corruption, uncalled for freebies and entitlement culture. An enabling government should not try to deliver directly to the citizens everything that they need; instead it should create an enabling ethos so that individual enterprise and creativity can flourish.
Earlier Sanghnomics columns can be read her.
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