A

Research Paper
On
Gandhian Philosophy towards Business Development and its
Relevance in Present India

Under the
Sub-Theme: Mahatma Gandhi thought on Commerce and Trade

At
National Conference on 15 Feb 2017

Presented by
MRS.APARNA SANJAY GER
M.com, B.Ed.
Commerce Dept
ST. Gonsalo Garcia College of Arts and commerce
Vasai 401201
Email:[email protected]
Abstract
The present paper attempts to examine the role of Gandhian Philosophy in functioning of Trade
and Commerce. Indian Trade and Commerce Industry have experienced radical changes because
of dynamic nature of national and global environment with new challenges in terms of economic
and social arena.
 Gandhiji’s views on Wealth Management
 Gandhiji’s views on Trade Unions
 Gandhiji’s views on Business Development
I profusely use the electronic sources especially the collection of writings by Bombay Sarvodaya
Mandal and Gandhi Research Foundation for research insights.
I also studied the books, research articles, papers and writings dedicated to life and thoughts of
Mahatma Gandhi. I also took insights from Gandhi Heritage Portal. My study finds that Gandhiji
was pragmatic towards extreme Industrialization and Commerce and expressed views in the
context of Indian condition at the time of the British Raj. If we properly understand Gandhian
philosophy, we will find that it is very much relevant today, when the world is facing severe
crisis due to mass poverty and unemployment, side by side with conspicuous consumption and
exploitation of natural resources. I correlated the principle of Swadeshi, Gram Swaraj, Aparigrah
in present economic scenario and find them relevant to solve the problems of Modern India.

Keywords: Trade and Commerce, Gandhian philosophy, Swadeshi, Wealth Management.

Introduction
“The earth has sufficient resources to satisfy one’s needs, but not for one’s greed.”
-----M.K. Gandhi
Gandhi is a name which does not need any preface. He was one of the few men in history to fight
simultaneously on moral, religious, political, social, economic and cultural fronts.
(Pareekh, 2001).
The economic philosophy of Gandhiji is written about, discussed and talked about. However,
when it comes to implementation, it is criticized for being impractical and imaginary. For
instance, the concept of trusteeship as enunciated by Gandhi demands non-possession. It seeks
individual to dispossess his wealth and income beyond his requirements so that the economic
welfare of the less capable is realized. The principle of non-possession and trusteeship is not
realized practically because individuals are immensely attached to their wealth in the ordinary
course of life (Nandela, 1963). Gandhi and even later day Gandhian have not been able to find
the root cause of attachment to wealth and its accumulation overtime (Mehta, 2004).
Mahatma Gandhi emphatically noted “Commerce without Morality is a sin” in his work. The
economy that resulted out of unfair trade and commerce practices might surely be considered as
social evil. Gandhiji wanted to build social justice and welfare amalgamated with economy
where as today’s economic policies dictates terms on its own, not evolving out of any social
means but for political pragmatism (Balaji, 1999).
Mahatma Gandhi never created a body of literature known by the name ‘Gandhian Economics’.
He neither claimed to be an economist nor was trained in Economics. He was not a voracious
reader of economic literature. Nevertheless, he expressed his views on economics at various
points of time in his life. His reflections on Economics found expression in his writings and
thoughts. Students of Gandhian thought and writings collated his reflections on economics and
created a body of literature known as ‘Gandhian Economics’. The literature thus created is
known to be enormous enough to be unparalleled in the history of modern Indian economic
thought.
Gandhian economics direct draw a distinction between economics and ethics, economics that
hurts moral wellbeing of an individual or a nation is immoral and therefore sinful. In essence the
supreme consideration is to be given to man rather than to money (Sahoo & Pattnaik, 2015).
Gandhiji proclaimed his profound belief in the rightness of economic equality.
In this paper I will highlight the relevance of Gandhian economics in present Indian trade and
commerce scenario.

Objectives
India had a big history of ancient trade and commerce with foreign countries. Even our
constitution also speaks about inter-state trade and commerce in detail. Even before
independence, the Government of India maintained semi-autonomous diplomatic relations. It had
colonies (such as the Aden Settlement), who sent and received full missions, and was a founder
member of both the League of Nations and the United Nations (Kevin, 2004).
India exports approximately 7500 commodities to about 190 countries, and imports around 6000
commodities from 140 countries. India exported US$318.2 billion and imported $462.9 billion
worth of commodities in 2014. The robust set of reforms in service trade, trade facilitation, new
startups at regional level, reduction in transaction cost and strategic focus on regionalism are key
factors in trade and commerce development in India.

The present paper attempts to analyze the role of Gandhian philosophy in commerce and trade
activities. I constructed the paper under the three heads:
 Gandhiji’s views on Wealth Management
 Gandhiji’s views on Trade Unions
 Gandhiji’s views on Business Development

As I studied the views of Gandhi on various aspects of trade and commerce, I collected the data
from secondary sources. I profusely use the electronic sources especially the collection of
writings by Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal and Gandhi Research Foundation for research insights.
I also studied the books, research articles, papers and writings dedicated to life and thoughts of
Mahatma Gandhi. I also took insights from Gandhi Heritage Portal (It is a collection of Gandhiji
writings in Harijan and Harijan Bandhu in his lifetime).

Wealth Management: A Gandhian View

Gandhian Philosophy of wealth management is based on the ‘Sarvodaya’ principles of Truth,
Non-Violence and Trusteeship; wherein class harmony between labour and management reigns
supreme. According to Gandhiji, managers and proprietors of business firms are only the trustees
of wealth of society. The idea of trusteeship advocated by Gandhiji is based on and has its origin
in the Bhagaved Gita-in the principles of ‘aparigraha’ (non-possession) and ‘Sambhawa’
(equalism) which were ardently followed by Mahatma Gandhi (Sharma, 1977). He said that
tthough wealth legally belongs of owners of business, morally belongs to society and community
(Nehru, 1941).
Gandhiji envisaged the entrepreneurs “to use their talent to increase the wealth, not for their own
sakes, but for the sake of the nation and, therefore, without exploitation…Their children will
inherit the stewardship only if they prove their fitness for it.”
Gandhiji’s view on Trade Union
Gandhiji declared the strike is an inherit right of the working man for the purpose of securing
justice (Narayan, 1970) but they must be considered a crime immediately capitalists accept the
principal of arbitration. He suggests “Satyagraha” is a solution of all sort of conflicts between
labour and management. Trade Unionism is a composite representation of the workers’
associations in the industry having an interactive relationship with other socio, economic and
political institutions of the country.
India is presently dealing with regressive issues of trade unions and the darker side of this issue
is that most of the strike turns violent in nature. The cold war between management and unions
are now common in Indian corporate scenario. Rift between trade union and management of
Maruti Suzuki’ Manesar Plant is recent example of conflicts which turns severely violent.
Tata Motors labour union strike in Gujarat Plant is another example of conflicts between trade
unions and management.

Gandhiji’s view on Business Development

Gandhiji’s speeches and writings suggest that he envisaged an Indian state grounded in
unconventional economics advocating self-reliance. Gandhiji advocated the rejection of private
property in favor of public ownership; owners would be trustees of public property managed in
the common interest. He believes in the concept of “Trusteeship” and suggests developing the
business as per the trusteeship management (Guha, 1989). Gandhiji suggest that what
industrialist should produce is determine by social necessity with optimal utilization of scarce
resources and not by personal whims (Jaffrelot, 2003). Gandhiji supported rural-centric
development with agriculture and small scale industries getting pride of place as this is the only
way the unemployment problem can be solved in a labor abundant country like India (Mathur,
1971). Although the present Indian economy is frequently comprises of service sector and
government emphasis more on entrepreneurship. With the entrants of global business giants in
Indian economy it is difficult to maintain the trusteeship in Indian economy or the organizations
just follow them for namesake. The deeper integration of the world economy through markets,
multinational firms and global production chains, as well as through closely interlinked financial
institutions and markets (Hardiman, 2003). The economic interconnectedness of the world is
based on a solid technological infrastructure, organizations span continents and markets link
producers and consumers across the world. The motive of business is shifted to increased profit
margin, accumulate wealth, increase customer base and market share rather than the community
development. Thus the real motto behind Gandhiji trusteeship is far lost (The Economist, 2016).
This is not to say that they are irrelevant or unimportant, but that they are unlikely to be widely
adopted in their original formulation.

Relevance of Gandhiji thought in present scenario

India is currently the world’s fourth largest economy in terms of real GDP (PPP) and the tenth
largest economy in terms of nominal GDP. The outsourcing of services to India has over the past
decade redefined the international business environment, and major Indian companies are now
moving abroad on a scale never before witnessed. Now India doesn’t remain agricultural based
country. The development of secondary and tertiary sector plays an important role in present
economy.
In this paper I am relating the principles or philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi in present economic
scenario.
We should not look forward Gandhian economics as a rigid doctrinaire framework and view with
skepticism. Gandhiji was pragmatic towards extreme Industrialization and Commerce and
expressed views in the context of Indian condition at the time of the British Raj. If we properly
understand Gandhian philosophy, we will find that it is very much relevant today, when the
world is facing severe crisis due to mass poverty and unemployment, side by side with
conspicuous consumption and exploitation of natural resources (Sahoo & Pattnaik, 2015).
Gandhiji solutions for the economic development are still relevant and we correlate them to solve
the present economic problems.
 Gandhiji insist on true “Swadeshi” that consists in enhancing and stimulating cottage and
small industries. In present Indian scenario we can go for using of “Made in India”
products model which is the new elaborated form of the swadeshi theory. It helps to
provide employment opportunities and reduce the burden of imports on the country. It
provides the self sufficiency in various economic and technological sectors. Even we can
go one more step to “Make in India”.
 Gandhiji gives the notion of “Gram Swaraj” which means the reconstruction of Indian
villages to concentrate more on economic development. We still implementing this
 principle by investing more in rural and agricultural sector by providing new
technologies, financing the agricultural sector and by providing skill development
opportunities to rural sector. Micro financing opportunities and Self help groups in rural
sectors are example of achieving Gram Swaraj.
 Gandhiji wanted to ensure distributive justice by ensuring that business acts as a trustee
to its many stakeholders, and specified that economic activities cannot be separated from
humanitarian activities. Gandhiji insists on “Aparigraha” which is quite similar as social
responsibility of business. Corporate Social Responsibility follows the same concept of
Gandhian trusteeship model as distribution of wealth is not about charity but about
dignity of human being and society at large.
 The principle of “Sarvodhya” states the development of all related stakeholders in
particular activity. We can correlate it with the present corporate governance concept. It
is the responsibility of the business to take care of its stakeholders. Stakeholders may be
employees, customers, supplier, buyers, law makers or society at large. The corporate
responsiveness is another major aspects of governance that follows the notion of
Sarvodhya or everyone’s development.

We must note that while it is true that Gandhiji‘s economic vision has not been actualized, the
social concerns that they sought to address remain as relevant as ever. The problems that he
identified decades ago still remain the most pressing yet unsolved economic problems of our
time- poverty, inequality, unemployment, and environmental degradation (Kaur & Singh, 2015).
Thus we need today is to devise a new mode of economic development based on Gandhian
ideology. This in practice would mean that public policy should give massive support to
agriculture on which more than half of the population of the country depends for their livelihood
and make it a remunerative occupation par with industry and the service sector. It is highly
imperative we badly need a new matrix of economy development, in which progress is measured
in terms of development of human capacity, dignified employment for everyone, equitable
distribution of income and wealth, ecological sustainability and social wellbeing of the
community.
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