Revival of Village Industries |
"In a
nutshell, of the things we use, we should restrict our purchases to the
articles which villages manufacture. Their manufactures may be crude. We
must try to induce them to improve their workmanship, and not dismiss them
because foreign articles or even articles produced in cities, that is, big
factories, are superior. In other words, we should evoke the artistic talent
of the villager. In this manner shall we repay somewhat the debt we owe to
them. We need not be frightened by the thought whether we shall ever succeed
in such an effort. Within our own times we can recall instances where we
have not been baffled by the difficulty of our tasks when we have known that
they were essential for the nation's progress. If, therefore, we as
individuals believe that revivification of India's villages is a necessity
of our existence, if we believe that thereby only can we root out
untouchability and feel one with all, no matter to what community or
religion they may belong, we must mentally go back to the villages and treat
them as our pattern, instead of putting the city life before them for
imitation. If this is the correct attitude, then, naturally, we begin with
ourselves and thus use, say, handmade paper instead of mill-made, use
village reed, wherever possible, instead of the fountain pen or the
penholder, ink made in the villages instead of the big factories, etc. I can
multiply instances of this nature. There is hardly anything of daily use in
the home which the villagers have not made before and cannot make even now.
If we perform the mental trick and fix our gaze upon them, we immediately
put millions of rupees into the pockets of the villagers, whereas at the
present moment we are exploiting the villagers without making any return
worth the name."
(Harijan,
30-11-34; 59:414.)
"The
revival of village industries is but an extension of the khadi effort.
Hand-spun cloth, hand-made paper, hand-pounded rice, home-made bread and
jam, are not uncommon in the West. Only, there they do not have
one-hundredth of the importance they have in India. For, with us their
revival means life, their destruction means death, to the villagers, as he
who runs may see. Whatever the machine age may do, it will never give
employment to the millions whom the wholesale introduction of power
machinery must displace."
(Harijan-
4-1-1935; 60:55.)
"The
big industries can never, they don't hope to, overtake the unemployed
millions. Their aim is primarily to make money for the few owners, never the
direct one of finding employment for the unemployed millions. The organizers
of khadi and other village industries don't hope in the near future to
affect the big industries. They may hope to bring a ray of light into the
dark dungeons, miscalled cottages, of the villagers."
(Harijan,
14-9-1935; 61:416.)
"If
we are to re-introduce village articles after being used to the Western
style, we shall have to be patient and inventive. That the pen requires
constant dipping is a good point. It lessens fatigue. That the fountain-pen
saves time is not an unmixed blessing. The village pen and ink undoubtedly
admit of improvement. That can only come when you and I use these things."
(Letter to Amrit Kaur, 17-4-1937; 65:97.)
"At
one time cities were dependent on the villages. Now it is the reverse. There
is no interdependence. Villages are being exploited and drained by the
cities.
". .
. under my scheme, nothing will be allowed to be produced by cities which
can be equally well produced by the villages. The proper function of cities
is to serve as clearing houses for village products."
(Harijan,
28-1-1939; 68:259.)
"In
modern terms, it is beneath human dignity to lose one's individuality and
become a mere cog in the machine. I want every individual to become a
full-blooded, fully developed member of society. The villages must become
self- sufficient. I see no other solution if one has to work in terms of
ahimsa."
(Harijan,
28-1-1939; 68:266.)
"If
village industries are revived, millions of villagers will get full wages."
(Harijan
Sevak,
8-7-1939; 69:239.)
"The
fact is that we have to make a choice between India of the villages that are
as ancient as herself and India of the cities which are a creation of
foreign domination. Today the cities dominate and drain the villages so that
they are crumbling to ruin. My khadi mentality tells me that cities must
subserve villages when that domination goes. Exploiting of villages is
itself organized violence. If we want swaraj to be built on nonviolence, we
will have to give the villages their proper place. This we will never do
unless we revive village industries by using the products thereof in place
of things produced in city factories, foreign or indigenous. Perhaps it is
now clear why I identify khadi with non-violence. Khadi is the chief village
handicraft. Kill khadi and you must kill the villages and with them
non-violence. I cannot prove this by statistics. The proof is before our
eyes."
(Harijan,
20-1-1940; 71:103.)
"Village economy cannot be complete without the essential village industries
such as hand-grinding, hand-pounding, soap- making, paper-making,
match-making, tanning, oil pressing etc." The other village industries cover
cattle farming, dairying, farming and compost manure."
(Constructive Programme : Its meaning and place, 13-12-1941;
75:153.)
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