Vol. 8, Issue 4, Part D (2022)

Abstract
As a visionary Mahatma of India, Mahatma Gandhi had a very clear idea about the village of his country. Gandhi believed that India lives in his 7:30 lakh villages. He further believed that India would have to live in villages, not in towns, not in huts, not in palaces. Mahatma Gandhi firmly believed that if villages perished, India would also perish. Mahatma Gandhi played a very leading role in achieving India's political independence from the British Raj by organizing and mobilizing the Indian public in all walks of life in a non-violent and peaceful manner. That is why Mahatma Gandhi was given the title of Father of the Nation. Mahatma Gandhi's approach to the rural development of India was holistic and people-centred. It was rooted in his firm belief in the principles of truth, nonviolence and the wellbeing of human beings. Influenced by the teachings of Tolstoy Ruskin and the Bhagavad Gita, Mahatma Gandhi laid more emphasis on moral and spiritual values than the economic objective as a means of holistic development. He found that most of the progress of India lies in the development of its villages, rural economy, rural industry and rural skill development. India has achieved a remarkable sustained socioeconomic development since independence. Unfortunately, this development is not shared equally by all. Some sections of society have been left out and development in some areas, like rural tribal and remote areas, has not been able to keep pace with the urban areas. Which is not conducive to the sustainable development of a country like India. Gandhi as a growing actor had emerged in Wardha very early in vision and action. Gandhi, being a national political leader, basically depended on the mobilization of the masses and their economic upliftment through the development of cottage and small scale industries. The ancient republican village served as a model unit without any form of exploitation in the Gandhian plan of rural reconstruction. Mahatma Gandhi aimed at the attainment of Gram Swaraj and said in 1942 that my view “My idea of Village Swaraj is that it is a complete republic, independent of its neighbours for its own vital wants and being inter-dependent on many others on which dependence is a necessity. Gandhiji fully understood the consequences of the western type of industrialization in India. Although Mahatma Gandhi was not a development economist, his theory was very important for rural development. The Gandhian theory of rural development is based on Mahatma Gandhi's ideas of development and Gandhi's ideas are embedded in his philosophy of life. This paper attempts to articulate Mahatma Gandhi's vision of achieving Gram Swaraj through rural development as well as throws light on the Gandhian philosophy of economic concepts that pertain to rural development. It attempts to trace the Gandhian model of rural development and its relevance in the new economic order.