Vol. 1, Issue 2, Part D (2015)

Abstract
India is a country of villages. The imagination of Panchayati Raj is the cornerstone of Indian culture. Mahatma Gandhi thought that democracy can be established in real sense only by decentralization of power. After independence, Gandhiji made it clear that exploitation of villages is itself an organized violence, if we have to create Swaraj on the basis of non-violence, then the villages have to give their proper place. Therefore, Mahatma Gandhi emphasized the need to revive panchayats, Mahatma Gandhi's structure of Panchayati Raj is not a pyramid like modern states, but a oceanic circle, in which the individual holds an important position. Gandhiji wanted a fair distribution of political power through the Panchayati Raj.