Maia Ramnath - Decolonizing Anarchism.pdf - Libcom

Echoes and Intersections I 189
The bhoodan (and the related gramdan or village
grant) idea evolved out of the work of Gandhi's disciple
Vinobha Bhave, and then Jayaprakash Narayan (or JP, as
he was commonly called). The Sarvodaya movement (raking
its name from Gandhi's translarion or "paraphrase"
of Ruskin's Unto This Last) aimed ro persuade landowners
to follow the dictates of an evolved conscience, and
bequeath parcels of their holdings to peasant collectives
to be self-managed in perpetuity with an emphasis on
self-sufficiency, equitable distribution of resources, and
individual freedom. Gramdan continued Bhoodan: land·
owners in a village would agree to renounce ownership
though retaining occupancy, donate a portion of their
land to the landless, and donate a portion of produce
annually to the village.
The saintly Bhave convened the first meeting of a
Sarvodaya Samaj soon after Gandhi's death, to carry on
the social mission thar he wasn'r able to complete. The
Bhoodan land distribution project began in 1951, followed
by the more extensive Gramdan program in 1952. This was
intended not just as an ownership arrangement but a whole
way of life. Bhave explained,
Sarvodaya does not mean good government or
majority rule, it means freedom from government,
it means decentralization of power. We want to do
away with government by politicians and replace it
by a government of the people, based on love, compassion
and equality. Decisions should be taken,
not by a majority, but by unanimous consent; and