Sarvodaya is Gandhijis most important socialpolitical movement.

Like Satyagraha, it too is a

combination of two terms, Sarva meaning one and all, and Uday meaning welfare or uplift. The
conjunction thus implies Universal uplift or welfare of all as the meaning of Sarvodaya.
Gandhijis first encounter with this noble notion was in the form of the book titled Unto This Last by
John Ruskin, which he read in South Africa in 1904. The impact of this reading was so powerful that it
proved to be a lifechanging experience for Gandhiji, I determined to change my life in accordance
with the ideals of the book.
Ruskins ideology was based on three fundamental tenets;
That the good of the individual is contained in the good of all.
That a lawyers work has the same value as the barbers in as much as all have the same right of
earning their livelihood from their work.
That a life of labour, i.e., the life of the tiller of the soil and the handicraftsman is the life worth
living.
The tenets awakened Gandhijis embryonic sense of social obligation. He reminisces about these
tenets in his autobiography, The first of these I knew. The second I had dimly realized. The third had
never occurred to me. Unto This Last made it clear as daylight for me that the second and third were
contained in the first. I arose with the dawn, ready to reduce these principles to practice.
Although Sarvodaya was a social ideology in its fundamental form, Indias immediate post-
independence requirement demanded that it be transformed into an urgent political doctrine.
Emancipation of disparity between social classes was its objective, and it could be best implemented
by political will and state machinery. It would affect in letter and spirit the singular objective of
Sarvodaya; inclusive growth and progress. For Gandhiji and for India, this meant grassroot level uplift
which began from the villages and from the most deprived classes, and then rose up to cover the
upperlying social stratas.
For Gandhiji, however, this was a physical manifestation of Sarvodaya. The deeper ethos had an
innate spiritual connect for him. His search of God had led him to the shanty of the most subjugated,
and in the selfless service of this lowest of the lowly man, Gandhiji glimpsed God. The shanty became
his shrine, and the heart of the deprived became his sanctum sanatorium. Gandhijis exalted aim of
ultimately being one with the sublime appeared to be getting fulfilled by servicing the poorest of the
poor. A vindication to this notion is provided by Gandhiji himself, when he wrote in Socialism of My
Conception in 1936:
Mans ultimate aim is the realization of God, and all his activities, social, political, religious, have to be
guided by the ultimate aim of the vision of God. The immediate service of all human beings becomes
a necessary part of the endeavour, simply because the only way to find God is to see Him in His
creation and be one with it. This can only be done by service of all. And this cannot be done except
through ones country.
Gandhijis sudden transmigration in 1948 did not leave much scope for him to see the seed of
Sarvodaya flourish in free India. However, his associates, those who were equally zealously wedded
to Sarvodaya thought, carried forward the activity under the watchful eyes of omnipresent Gandhiji.
Foremost among these torchbearers of Sarvodaya were Acharya Vinoba Bhave, Jaiprakash Narayan
and Dada Dharmadhikari. Under their able guidance and ceaseless striving, Sarvodaya ceased to be
a mere initiative and became a momentous movement.
Sarvodaya
Sarvodaya (Devanagari: , Gujarati: ) is a term meaning 'universal uplift' or
'progress of all'. The term was first coined by Mahatma Gandhi as the title of his 1908 translation
of John Ruskin's tract on political economy, Unto This Last, and Gandhi came to use the term for
the ideal of his own political philosophy.
[1]
Later Gandhians, like the
Indian nonviolence activist Vinoba Bhave, embraced the term as a name for the social movement
in post-independence India which strove to ensure that self-determination and equality reached
all strata of Indian society.
Origins and Gandhi's political ideal[edit]
Gandhi received a copy of Ruskin's Unto This Last from a British friend, Mr. Henry Polak, while
working as a lawyer in South Africa in 1904. In his Autobiography, Gandhi remembers the
twenty-four hour train ride to Durban (from when he first read the book), being so in the grip of
Ruskin's ideas that he could not sleep at all: "I determined to change my life in accordance with
the ideals of the book."
[2]
As Gandhi construed it, Ruskin's outlook on political-economic life
extended from three central tenets:

1. That the good of the individual is contained in the good of all.
2. That a lawyer's work has the same value as the barber's in as much as all have the same right
of earning their livelihood from their work.
3. That a life of labour, i.e., the life of the tiller of the soil and the handicraftsman is the life
worth living.
The first of these I knew. The second I had dimly realized. The third had never occurred to me. Unto
This Last made it clear as daylight for me that the second and third were contained in the first. I arose
with the dawn, ready to reduce these principles to practice.
[2]

Four years later, in 1908, Gandhi rendered a paraphrased translation of Ruskin's book into his
native tongue of Gujarati. He entitled the book Sarvodaya, a compound (samsa) he invented
from two Sanskrit roots: sarva (all) and udaya (uplift) -- "the uplift of all" (or as Gandhi glossed it
in his autobiography, "the welfare of all").
Although inspired by Ruskin, the term would for Gandhi come to stand for a political ideal of his
own stamp. (Indeed Gandhi was keen to distance himself from Ruskin's more conservative
ideas.)
[3]
The ideal which Gandhi strove to put into practice in his ashrams was, he hoped, one
that he could persuade the whole of India to embrace, becoming a light to the other nations of
the world. The Gandhian social ideal encompassed the dignity of labor, an equitable distribution
of wealth, communal self-sufficiency and individual freedom.
[4]

Sarvodaya movement[edit]
Gandhi's ideals have lasted well beyond the achievement of one of his chief projects, Indian
independence (swaraj). His followers in India (notably, Vinoba Bhave) continued working to
promote the kind of society that he envisioned, and their efforts have come to be known as the
Sarvodaya Movement. Anima Bose has referred to the movement's philosophy as "a fuller and
richer concept of people's democracy than any we have yet known." Sarvodaya workers
associated with Vinoba, Jaya Prakash Narayan, Dada Dharmadhikari, Dhirendra Mazumdaar,
Shankarrao Deo, K. G. Mashruwala undertook various projects aimed at encouraging popular
self-organisation during the 1950s and 1960s, including Bhoodan and Gramdan movements.
Many groups descended from these networks continue to function locally in India today.
Beginning on the one year anniversary of the immersion of Gandhi's ashes, an annual
Sarvodaya mela or festival has been held at Srirangapatna
[5]
and at Tirunavaya. At the latter site,
it was instituted by K. Kelappan (Kelappaji).
[6][7]



Gandhiji first declared his 11 vows when he established his first Ashram in India, Kochrab
Ashram, in 1915. Only those were admitted as inmates to the ashram, who were ready to take
these vows.
The 11 vows were like 11 steps to higher awareness, higher realisation and higher attainment.
Gandhiji did not give any order of preference to the vows, so they are presented in a loose
configuration here: Satya or Truth, Ahimsa or nonviolence, Brahmacharya or celibacy, Asteya or non-
stealing, Asangraha or nonpossession, Sharir Shram or bread labour, Aswada or control of palate,
Bhayavarjana or fearlessness, Sarva Dharma Sambhav or religious equality, Swadeshi or use of local
products, and Sparsh Bhavana or removal of untouchability.
Satya (truth):
This virtue was dearest to Gandhijis heart. As his realisation about the allpervading and ever-
omnipotent dimension of Truth matured, it became his dominant life force and guiding principle.
Gandhiji equated such profound truth with God. He started seeking Truth as a seeker strives to find
his God. For him, truth was indeed God, and truthfulness was his religion. In his book Yerawada
Mandir, he has written, Truth should be Truth in thought, Truth in speech, and Truth in action. To the
man who has realised this Truth in its fullness, nothing else remains to be known, because all
knowledge is necessarily included in it. What is not included in it, is not truth and so not true
knowledge.
According to Gandhiji, truth was not a passive but a very active virtue, which was to be practiced not
only in speech and action, but in thought also. In fact, all speech and action emanates from thought,
so it was paramount to be truthful in thought first and foremost.
Ahimsa (nonviolence):
This was the only weapon which Gandhiji ever resorted to, in all his struggles and movements. Non-
violence was his only response to all violent and oppressive actions he faced in his life. In doing so,
he illustrated that blood can be washed away only with water, not with blood. He demonstrated to an
unbelieving world the potency of active nonviolence, that not raising a finger against a pointed pistol,
and not hurling even a stone at a cannonman required far more courage than giving tit for tat. All the
might and all the firepower of the British ultimately proved to be petty against the gushing force of
nonviolence.
Nonviolence is more powerful than violence because it exists at a higher and superior level than its
counterpart. Compared to the almostsublime force of nonviolence derived from inner strength and
conviction, violence is merely prosaic and physical. One can kill a man, but not his spirit. Non-
violences womb is the spirit, and hence violence cannot reach or harm its core.
There is another dimension to the power of nonviolence. While violence is lifetaking, nonviolence is
lifegiving. It is born out of regenerative sentiments like love, compassion, brotherhood, amity, and
most importantly, nonvengeance. It is this remarkable characteristic of nonviolence that made
Gandhiji so humble, gentle and full of humility even in success. His worst critics never perceived him
as an enemy. He was a nonviolent man, never a threat to anybody, and hence never anybodys
enemy.
Brahmacharya (celibacy):
Celibacy was an integral part of the code of conduct of Gandhijis ashram life. He was of the firm
opinion that the full potential of celibacy could not be harnessed unless its observance was not
extended to all the five sensory pleasures. They were interlinked and interlocked, and in order to put
into practice true celibacy, it was necessary to be restrained in all the five types of indulgences.
Certain types of foods aroused carnal desire, and hence restraint of palate was needed to observe
unflinching celibacy. Likewise, to hear provocative dialogues or to see provocative visual impressions
was detrimental to practice celibacy.
Gandhiji saw the need for celibacy in every individuals life who wanted to reach higher levels of
attainment, whatever his field of activity may be. Indulgence was a major outlet of ones vital physical
and spiritual energies. Through observance of celibacy, one buffers these energies for constructive
use in his chosen pursuit. Hence, celibacy becomes not an inhibitor but a facilitator of achieving
avowed goals.
It is with this firm conviction that Gandhiji endorsed celibacy as a chosen style of life for students, so
that their energies can be canalised to the pursuit of knowledge seeking and learning processes. .
Asteya (nonstealing):
Gandhiji had an expanded vision of this virtue. Asteya was not a limited practice of not stealing as a
direct action. The indirect and subtle ways of stealing, like lying stealing of truthfulness, cheating
stealing others rights, conspiring stealing of others legacy, waging of war stealing of others
territories, these were also forms of stealing, according to Gandhiji.
Mankinds greed and craving for artificial needs are also stealing, as per Gandhijis dictum. When we
compound our needs and wants, we actually steal from others right to basic requirements. A wealthy
man residing in a mansion steals a poor mans land for his hut. In due consideration of this idea,
Gandhiji has written in Yerawada Mandir, One who follows the observance of Nonstealing will bring
about a progressive reduction of his own wants. Much of the distressing poverty in this world has
risen out of the breaches of the principle of Nonstealing.
Aparigraha (nonpossession):
The sentiment of nonpossession has several dimensions in Gandhijis perception. The terms
overriding connotation is that one does not hoard, one does not store for future what one does not
need today. In this way, one helps to meet the present need of countless lesser privileged people who
can barely eat one square meal a day. By hoarding, we are essentially snatching away this square
meal of the poor.
Secondly, lesser possessions lead to lesser aspirations and wants. And the lesser one wants, the
better off one is, because then one is not in a stage of greed for what one does not have but in a
stage of contentment with whatever one has.
The ultimate stage of nonpossession is no possession. In this state, there are no material
possessions, which lead to cultivating detachment. When one doesnt possess any worldly
possessions, there is nothing for him that ties him down to worldly affairs. This clears his path of
spiritual pursuits. Only by relinquishing the worldly does one get the sublime.
Sharirshrama (Bread Labour):
Gandhiji has emphasized the importance of physical labour in many of his ideals. In Nayi Talim, he
related labour to coordinated and balanced personality development. Herein, he emphasises the
inevitability of manual work in earning ones living Earn thy labour by the sweat of the brow, the
saying from Bible, is the guiding principle herein. Given the known belief of Gandhiji that intellectual
activity is interrelated with physical activity, he could not perceive any one activity in isolation. Hence,
in earning ones living, one had to employ both the activities in equal measure.
Secondly, the urge not to earn more than necessary, and to devote some amount of physical activity
towards selfless social cause, is intrinsic to the notion of bread labour. By not earning more than
required, the resources are distributed more equitably. And by devoting some amount of labour by
ablebodied people towards the society, the lesserabled or the disabled are also benefited. In this
manner, the concept of bread labour benefits both the monetarily as well as physically
underprivileged.
Aswada (Control of the Palate)
Food is energy for body, and what is this body? A machine and a means to serve the self and the
selfless purposes. Overenergising of the body in any form will lead to its abuse, and when the body is
abused, the abuse of mind and soul cannot be far away.
Gandhiji thus conceived the negative impact of wrong dietary habits. He stressed on the nutritive
aspects of food rather than those that just titillate the taste buds. In fact, he advocated total avoidance
of spicy, over nutritious food that would be counterproductive to the very aim of utilising the body for
noble purposes. We become less than animals and brutes by eating wrong foods in the wrong way;
that is what Gandhiji felt fervently.
Control of palate is also intimately related with observance of celibacy and overall restraint.
Sarvatra Bhayavarjana (Fearlessness)
As in the case of each of these vows, fearlessness is projected as a multidimensional feature. On one
hand, Gandhiji opines that fearlessness in all walks of life; from fear of ghosts, to fear of enemy, to
fear of poverty, should be eradicated. On the other hand, he also cautions that fearlessness must not
result in brashness, arrogance or inconsiderate attitude towards the less fearless.
Sarva Dharma Samantva (Equality of the religions)
Gandhiji visualised the different faiths as different rivers that ultimately converged with one ocean.
But, just as the waters of all the rivers are the same, so is the basic substance of all the religions. The
tenets of all religions have similar ethos and essence. It was this ethos that Gandhiji emphasised
upon, without dwelling in the intricacies of individual preachings. He himself having read the
philosophies of all major religions, Gandhiji firmly believed that sectarian and partisan divides
between religions were the nefarious creation of vested, ignorant or hardline sections present in all
religious institutions, and dismissed their narrow views as deterrents to true values of their respective
faiths.
Gandhijis belief of ideal religion thus points towards a universal belief system that converges all the
great religious philosophies, rather than the structured, organised religious institutions. This, he
advocated even while respecting the individual preachings of all religions.
True religious equanimity and tolerance would be born from the seeds of such a broad, incorporative
and inclusive perspective of religion, and a compassionate understanding of it.
Swadeshi (Use Locally Made Goods)
Swadeshi, in the literal sense, means homemade, or domestically produced. Gandhiji strongly
advocated use of swadeshi products and services in line with his idea of boosting domestic
productivity with domestic demand. He has said in the periodical Young India dated April 20, 1919,
that his foremost loyalty and sense of alliance is with his nextdoor neighbour, and this, he would bear
in mind at all times. He would never think of adopting anything produced by faraway lands, no matter
how fine or superior in quality, at the cost of his neighbours produce, may it be wheat or wool. It is
only in this manner that he would serve his neighbour rightly and dutifully, by helping him sustain a life
of dignified sustenance.
Patronising a faraway friend at the expense of the neighbouring brethren was a moral and ethical sin,
Gandhiji felt.
Sparshbhavna (Untouchability)
Gandhiji was so repelled with the practice of untouchability in India that he condemned it in strong
words in December 1920 issue of Young India, I consider untouchability to be a heinous crime
against humanity. It is not a sign of self-restraint, but an arrogant assumption of superiority.
Untouchability is a sectarian social custom of India, in which the upper caste considered themselves
polluted, blemished, demeaned and declassified if they came in slightest physical contact with the
lowest caste, the Hairjans. If this happened, they would have to purify their body, mind and soul
through special rituals. The barbaric practice is deep-rooted in the Indian social and caste system,
and various social reformers including Gandhiji have worked tirelessly to abolish it.
Removal of untouchability was one of the priorities of Gandhijis social reforms agenda. He
considered it a curse which had polarised the Indian society. He likened the abolishment of this
custom with spreading love, compassion and equality among all.
Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY)
On December 25
th
2000, Hon'ble Indian Prime Minister initiated the Antyodaya Anna yojana. This proposal
imitate the promise of the Indian Government to guarantee food safety for all to make a hunger liberated
India in the coming 5 years & to change and develop the Public Distribution scheme to supply the poorest of
the poor in urban & rural regions. Antyodya Anna Yojana is mainly preserved for the poorest of the poor. It is
predicted that five percent of inhabitants are incapable to have 2 square foods everyday on a secondary
stained basis all through the year. Buying power of these is so little that even at BPL tariff they cannot
purchase food grains all around the year. It is this five percent of the population (five crores of persons or one
crore families) that makes the aimed collection of Antyodaya Anna Yojana.
Scale And Issue Price
Antyodaya Anna Yojana considers recognition of 1 crore families from the BPL families that will be given food
granules at the tariff of thirty five Rs for each Kg for each family every month. The food granules will be given
by the Indian Government at the rate of Rs. two for every one Kg for wheat & Rs. three for every one Kg of rice.
The Indian Government proposes that in sight of miserable poverty of this cluster of recipients, the State
Government can guarantee that last retail cost is kept at Rs. two for one Kg for wheat & Rs. three for one Kg.
for rice.
Issue of Ration Cards
Following the recognition of Antyodaya families, unique quota cards to be recognized an "Antyodaya Ration
Card" must be given to the Antyodaya families by the chosen power. These ration card must be having the
required details regarding the Antyodaya family, level of ration etc.

Sarvodaya means development of all. Gandhijis concept of development
is Sarvodaya through Antyodaya, implying the welfare of all through the weakest of
the society. Principles of cooperation and collective endeavor are central to society.
Women remain the most deprived and long-neglected segment of the society, despite
the Constitutional guarantees for equal rights and privileges for men and women.
Development is a process of Empowerment. Microfinance through women Self-Help
Groups (SHGs) is a significant medium of poverty alleviation and empowerment of
women. SHGs formed by women in different places have proved that they could
indeed bring about a change in the mindset of the very conservative and tradition-
bound illiterate women in rural areas. The concept of group formation is the best
strategy to enlighten women and provide necessary mental courage for self-
employment.
This paper makes a strong case for SHGs as a new development paradigm for
bringing about gender equity among rural women in India by creating self-
employment opportunities through microcredit. The study is based on the premise
that poor women can internalise production possibilities in groups only. They are
better-equipped to overcome the negative social pressure and gender biases
operating against them through group identity and activity. However, the relationship
of credit access to self-employment is not automatic but depends on various factors.
n reality the Microfinance experiment faces many hurdles which have to be overcome
if poverty has to be referred back to the museum. This article promotes Gandhian
Studies Centres as catalysts in addition to Government, Banks and Non Governmental
Organisations to promote entrepreneurship through adult literacy, training facilities
and marketing facilities to SHGs.
This Paper is divided into three sections. Section 1 is an introduction explaining
Gandhian principles and the concept of empowerment. The significance of
Microfinance and Self-Help Groups is described in Section 2. Section 3 explains the
role of catalysts like the Government, Banks, Non Government Organisations and
above all Gandhian Studies Centres in overcoming the various hurdles faced by SHGs
in order to make them sustainable.

Introduction
Sarvodaya means development of all. Tribal villages have a system
of madait or sangat which literally mean cooperation. Gandhijis concept of
development is Sarvodaya through Antyodaya, implying the welfare of all through the
weakest of the society. Principles of cooperation and collective endeavor are central to
society. "Trusteeship" implies that property belongs to all, and the holder manages it
and takes care of it only as a socially responsible trustee. The Gandhian model
emphasizes decentralization of socio-economic and political systems starting from the
village to the highest level. Village life should arouse a sense of cooperation and
fellowship.
Voicing the silence of millions on International Womens Day, Indias former First Lady
Usha Narayanan rued that uneven development had left the majority of women in
rural areas untouched, unsung and neglected. Declaring that women were not in need
of crutches or hand-outs, she stated that instead they need to be empowered to take
their rightful place in society (Prabhakar, 2004). Women remain the most deprived
and long-neglected segment of the society, despite the Constitutional guarantees for
equal rights and privileges for men and women. Anti-poverty policies need to reach
poor women both to maximise social returns on development investments and
minimise the poverty of this and the next generation (Lalitha,1999 and Narasaiah,
2004).