A Gandhian Agenda for a Global Union of Village Republics

Today, majority of the people live in misery fighting for survival. Hunger, Ignorance and Disease still remain the major problems. All pervasive corruption, aggravated by the use of money and muscle power by the political parties to win elections, has been worsening the situation. The growing divide between the super rich and the down-trodden has given an impetus to extremism. Terrorism stalks the countries of the world. Added to this, global warming is pushing the world toward annihilation. To retrieve the world from the brink of disaster, a global effort is urgently needed.
The system needs to be overhauled and a new leadership committed to Gandhian ideology must take over the reins of governance. Nations should come together to create a Global Union of Village Republics.
Gandhi's vision of Indian was a `Union of Village Republics' where each of the 700, 000 villages would have an elected panchayat (village council), fully autonomous with all the powers to govern itself. Unfortunately, his concept of a vibrant democracy based on Village Swaraj (self-government) was ignored in the Indian Constitution. Instead, the Westminister model of parliamentary democracy dominated by political parties was adopted. This has taken India along the path of peril, far removed from the Gandhian path of peace and prosperity.
In 9, when Mahatma Gandhi evolved his concept of Union of Village Republics his thoughts were focused on India's freedom from the British rule. But all through his writings he had kept in mind peace, security and welfare of the people of the whole world.
In the Global Union world Nations would voluntarily become members, much like the United Nations and the European Union, but the authority to enforce universal peace and security vested with a democratically constituted apex body. An elected Government equipped with a peace force would over-ride narrow national interests and establish a new world of peace and prosperity.
It would be a world without conflict, nations without borders and people committed to Truth and non-violence.
With this objective in view a Charter has been drafted to create a new Global Union empowered to enforce laws enacted by a world assembly or parliament.

Charter

Ushering in a Partyless Democracy

1. A four-tier structure of elected Panchayat (village council) Unions at the District/ State level, District Unions at the National level and the Unions of World Nations at the Global level will be the format for the Global Union of Village Republics.
2. Under the new democratic system direct elections are held only at the bottom level to the Village Councils (Panchayats). Elections to higher legislative bodies are limited to the elected members of the Panchayats. This will put an end to the malpractices in the present expensive and complicated electoral process dominated by the political parties.
3. National parliaments will elect representatives to the Global Parliament, which in turn elects a leader for a term of five years. The person will be the President of the global Union and will be empowered by the Global Parliament to form his own government and implement the decisions of the Parliament.
4. An independent judiciary will ensure the smooth functioning of the global democratic system.

Banishing Hunger

5. Expanding population, low productivity and benefits of development projects failing to reach the beneficiaries are the main reasons for the unresolved problem of growing poverty in countries of the third world. Drastic measures are needed to remedy the critical situation.
6. To enhance productivity in farming and small industries, new tools, guidance, training and financial assistance will be provided through agricultural and technological institutions in every district.
7. Member Nations will be guided and funded by a Global Fund for implementing a uniform industrial and agricultural policy geared to promote job-oriented projects. Priority will be for industries offering maximum job opportunities and to agro industries in rural areas.
8. The educated unemployed will be enrolled in career training programmes according to their talent and desire and placed in suitable jobs. A subsistence allowance will be paid during the training period. No one will be left idle.

Removing Ignorance

9. Literacy alone cannot remove ignorance and superstition widely prevalent among the masses. The education policy will be designed to combine science and spirituality to strengthen the inherent moral fiber in every human being from young age.
10. The medium of instruction will be English for science subjects and mother tongue for other subjects. English will be recognized as the official international language.
11. To achieve the goal of universal education all the children under 10 years of age will be enrolled compulsorily in a neighborhood government school. Classes at the primary level can be held outside the school compound entrusted to qualified teachers such as educated women and retired teachers. This would ease the space problem in school as also save much expenditure in infrastructure.

Preventing Disease

12. Prevention is better than cure. Medical facilities will be provided for all the people under a social security scheme that will also take care of the aged and the destitute. At the same time preventive measures will be taken by inoculation against infections and epidemics, and propagating personal and community healthcare, hygiene and clean environment.

(The author, Swachid K. Rangan is a resident of Chennai, India. B 1933. A journalist by profession he has been the New Delhi correspondent of The New York Times for over 20 years since 1961. He retired as Editor, Dinamani, a leading Tamil language newspaper in Tamil Nadu state. He is the founder-editor of Kanaiyazhi, a renowned Tamil monthly devoted social reforms and literature. A follower of Mahatma Gandhi, he founded the Swachid Movement in 1985 and has been the founder-secretary of Gandhi Mission, Chennai)

K. Kasturi Rangan, 99 Journalists Colony, Chennai 600 041 India. Phone 044 2451 1846 e-mail: pagg482@gmail.com
website: www.swachid.com

Gandhian Dictums for Right Living

By Swachid K. Rangan

As Time rolls by, Gandhi's global stature is growing. Gandhism is taking roots all over the world and will eventually sprout into a Universal Religion based on Gandhian Spirituality. Then Gandhji's place will be among the prophets of the world, after Moses, Buddha, Jesus Christ and Mohammed. The Prophets had laid down Commandments, edicts and sacred duties to be performed for individuals. So has Gandjhiji without giving them directly.

"My life is my message," he has said when asked for one. Anyone can derive these dictums from his own life, so vividly recorded in his autobiography, "The Story of My Experiments with Truth."

Be truthful. Truth begets trust. Trust begets respect, recognition and rewards. You may not always follow truth, but if you find truth stand by it. And make it your business to find Truth. Don't do anything in secret that you cannot divulge in public.
Be fearless. Face threat and danger stoically.
Bear no grudge. Non-violence in thought, word and deed will transform your relationship with others for the better. Malice toward none is the right attitude.
Free yourself from enslaving habits. Illness is caused by wrong food or pollution. Don't suppress the symptoms by medication. Find the cause and avoid it. In most cases Nature cure is the best remedy. Smoking is a slow killer. Alcohol and drugs are poisons.
Be emotional. Show it in love not in hatred or anger. Keep the ego under leash. Ego is the seat of emotions and let it not get the better of you.
Create wealth for the society. If you have surplus funds invest them in productive ventures. Don't hoard or make dead investments.
Share your burden and profits. If you have inherited wealth or running business consider yourself as a trustee and put it in productive uses. Share business profits generously among the workers. Identify truthful, trustworthy persons and reward them with responsibility and money. Do not shoulder all the responsibilities by yourself.
Go public: Take interest in public affairs. Set aside at least three hours of your time in a week and one per cent of your personal expenditure to support a public cause.
Be with God. Sit in Meditation for at least 30 minutes. Relate with your inner Self, God within.
Be a Satyagrahi. Remain committed to truth and nonviolence under all circumstances. Fight injustice and oppression. Be ready to sacrifice your life and wealth for the sake of a noble cause. Service to the poor and the distressed is service to God.
·

Gandhian dictums should find a place in school textbooks. The moral fibre in every individual would then be fortified. When these individuals grow up and take over national leadership a new world order of peace and prosperity would set in.

A Gandhian Agenda for Universal Peace and Democracy

By Swachid K. Rangan

Mahatma Gandhi, who led India to freedom from 150 years of British rule, had prescribed a democratic system based on village self-government. He called it Gram Swaraj where political parties would have no role. Unfortunately, the framers of Indian Constitution ignored it and opted for the British model of parliamentary democracy based on the party system. This has proved to be most unsuited to the Indian ethos. Where religion, caste and ethnic rivalries prevail, political parties tend to exploit them to gain dominance and perpetuate themselves in power.

In the parliamentary democracy, as in practice world over, the political parties represent the individual. Only at the time of the elections the voter has a role to play. After that the voter goes into hibernation, until the next elections, and the parties that decide what is good for him. Which in real terms means what is good for them.

Elections are expensive and marked by lavish propaganda, affordable only by a party in command of money and muscle power. Criminalization of politics is a cause for concern as political parties are increasingly depending on this element for funds and votes. Party politics divide the society into so many groups. Evoking sentiments of religion, clan or ethnic identity creates vote banks. This has resulted in a society where various groups of people are perpetually in conflict vitiating the natural atmosphere of peace and freedom.

The party leadership indulges in misuse of power and corruption in order to satisfy supporters inside and outside its own party. Politicians have lost credibility. Good and selfless persons are still there, though in dwindling numbers. Like bad coins drive out good coins bad politicians marginalize and drive out good people especially in the political parties.

With all these, it is evident that political parties have become the bane of democratic system. In countries where a single party dominates and a single person or a caucus controls the party, dictatorship eventually ensues. More so when there are no checks and balances as exist in vibrant democracies such as India, the United States and Britain. Concentration of power in one person makes him autocratic and that is how persons like Sadam Husein emerge.

The time has come now to consider an alternate to the present system that is election-oriented, party-dominated, complicated and very expensive.

Gandhiji's concept of gram swaraj (Village self-government) envisages India as a 'Union of Village Republics'. Each of the 640,000 village panchayats or councils would be a self-sufficient autonomous unit with full political and economic power vested in it. Every individual will have direct voice in the government.

The individual is the architect of his own government. A Panchyat of persons possessing minimum prescribed qualifications and annually elected by adult villagers will conduct the government of the village. It will have all the authority and jurisdiction. The Panchayat will be the legislature, judiciary and executive rolled into one.

Direct elections are held only at the village level. An electoral college of panchayat members will elect the legislators to the State and National legislatures as also the heads of the governments. Decentralization of power is a basic requirement.

Gram swaraj as conceived by Gandhiji is thus a genuine and virile democracy, which offers a potent cure for many of the ills that mark the present political system.

This is applicable not only to the Indian electoral system but also relevant to the system that exists in the United States and other party-based democratic countries. With this in view, a reformed system of 'partyless democracy' universally applicable, must be evolved. A new, partyless democratic system having the Village self-government as the base will usher in truly a democratic republic, the Gandhian Republic of Universal Peace and Democracy.

Gandhian Concept of Partyless Democracy

Gandhiji's concept of Panchayat raj envisages India as a 'Union of Village Republics'. Each of the 640,000 village panchayats would be a self-sufficient autonomous unit with full political and economic power vested in it. He called it 'Village Swaraj', where every individual will have direct voice in the government.

H.M. Vyas, compiler of Gandhiji's essays on the subject writes: The individual is the architect of his own government. The government of the village will be conducted by a Panchyat of persons annually elected by adult villagers possessing minimum prescribed qualifications. It will have all the authority and jurisdiction. The Panchayat will be the legislature, judiciary and executive rolled into one. Village swaraj as conceived by Gandhiji is thus a genuine and virile democracy, which offers a potent cure for many of the ills that mark the present political system that is "election-oriented, party-dominated, power-aimed, centralized and complicated".

At this point of time it may sound too Utopian, as it would require dismantling of the present electoral system and rewriting of the Constitution itself. Credit is due to the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who pushed through the 73rd and 74th amendments providing for compulsory elections to the Panchayats and other local bodies. Fundless and powerless it is a far cry from Gandhiji's concept of Panchayat raj. But these elections have no doubt created awareness among the villagers and an opportunity to vent their grievances to the authorities through the easily accessible elected representatives.

Given the lack of competent leadership and literacy and inadequate resources to achieve self-sufficiency at the village level, it may not be practical to bring in the panchayat raj as envisaged by Gandhiji. But as an intermediary measure, cluster of villages and towns that form the districts can be made into autonomous entities with maximum political and executive powers.

There are 700 districts in our country. Already a good administration is in place in each of them along with a judiciary and an infrastructure for agriculture, power, industries, education, health and other services.

With this in view, a reformed system of 'partyless democracy' will have the following salient features:

1. Direct elections, by adult franchise, will be held to the Panchayats only.

2. The voters in the villages will form the Gram sabha, and in towns and cities the wards will be termed as Nagar sabha. Each will elect a Chairperson and a six-member administration to the Gram or Nagar Panchayats.

3. The chairperson will be a member of the District Council, which may have up to 300 councilors.

4. The Gram/Nagar sabha and District Council will meet twice a year to oversee and guide the panchayat or council administration.

5. The councilors will elect a Chairperson along with a six-member administration.

6. The Council chairperson will automatically become a Member of Parliament and the six administrative council members will become Members of the State legislature.

7. Thus there will be a four-tier democratic system, namely Gram/Nagar Panchayats, District Councils, State Legislatures and Lok Sabha. Direct elections are held only at the bottom level, namely, Gram/Nagar sabhas. There will be no elections to State Assembly or Lok Sabha.

8. The State assembly and the Lok Sabha will be a continuing permanent body, never to be dissolved and reconstituted every five years

9. One-fifth of the elected members will be retired every year and elections are held for the vacancies. The Panchayats represented by these retiring members will go to polls at the same time. That is, 140,000 vilage and town panchayats out of the total 700,000 will elect new panchayats for a five-yearterm.

19. The leader of the House, who will be elected by a simple
majority, will have a full-term of five years. In case
there are more than two contestants preferential voting
will decide the winner. His removal in midterm will be by
two-thirds voting in favour of such a resolution.

The Constitution has no mention of the Political parties. The leader of the House is the Chief Minister or Prime Minister. A charismatic, clean candidate can enlist the support of the majority in the House. He can form his own cabinet with competent persons. Once elected by a simple majority he will not be bound by the pressures and pulls of his own partymen or coalition partners as is witnessed now.

All this may require some amendments to the Constitution and drastic revision of the Peoples Representative Act. It will also meet with stiff resistance from Political parties that have vested interest in the present system. Eminent persons of stature in public life outside the dominant political parties should come together and form an alliance, "People's Alliance for Partyless Demoicracy" and fight it out in the elections at all levels.

A new, partyless democratic system having the Panchayat as the base will usher in truly a democratic republic, the Gandhian Republic of India.

A Gandhian Agenda for Universal Education

By Swachid K. Rangan

The tragic event in a school in South India where 94 children under the age of ten perished in fire sent shock waves around the world. The fire was caused by the collapse of burning thatched roof, made of bamboo and dry coconut leaves, on 130 children packed in a shed. This incident points to the woefully inadequate facilities available in countries like India where the growth of population far exceeds the provision of basic needs.

Infrastructure for education is a basic need but the governments are unable to cope with the ever-increasing demand for classrooms and equipment. One teacher for 20 children and 9 sq. ft for each student is the prescribed international norm. This is not possible in countries such as India where the procreation activity is barely controlled and child population increases in multiple progression.

Classes are run in makeshift sheds. Schools that do not have drinking water or toilet facility are quite common even in government-run public schools. Private schools offer better facilities but the fees are heavy affordable only by the affluent. The craze for English medium education has led to mushrooming of teaching shops that draw children fro middle-class families. These schools such as the one in Kumbakonam town where the incident occurred on July 16, 2004, flout all regulations concerning safety and teaching standards. Inspection is lax because of official corruption.

The Indian government has declared education would be compulsory up to eighth grade for all eligible children and it would be free. As an added incentive noon meal would be served free of cost. About 40 per cent of the estimated 100 million children between the age of 5 and 12 do not go to any school. Dropouts are also heavy. By making attendance compulsory the pressure on space for classrooms and new buildings would also be heavy. The government financial situation is already stretched to the limit.

The objective of universal education cannot be realized unless the education system is radically restructured.

A solution lies in the Gandhian approach to basic education. Mahatma Gandhi in a speech delivered in London in 1931, had criticized severely the British education system that was being thrust on the people of India. The objective, he said, was to cut at the root of the traditional gurukula system in India where the village schoolmaster supported by the community took care of child education. It didn't need any building or classrooms or furniture as it did in the British system. The English education ignored the mother-toungue of the natives and sought to change the cultural base of the traditional Indian system. Education became expensive and the curriculum was tailored to suit the needs of the British administration. Though the British rulers left India in 1947, their enslaving education regime is still being vigorously pursued.

Gandhi had evolved an informal system of education in his ashrams in South Africa. Children lived with their parents in the ashram where tilling and handicraft were the means of livelihood. Elders taught the children the three 'R's. That was good enough for the children who could pursue their studies in regular schools or colleges later. Gandhi insisted teaching should be in their own language and that children must also work in the fields and learn skills. The system that provided inexpensive and personalized education is ideal for the people of India. Yet, Gandhi's ideas were ignored.

Crowding in schools can be avoided if coaching is made the responsibility of individuals for 10 or more children. To regulate the system the government would make the registration of the students and the teacher compulsory in a local public school. Attendance is not compulsory but there will be a term test at the level of fifth grade according to government prescribed syllabus as recommended by Gandhi. A cash incentive will be given to each of the students passing out the examination and also to the teacher.

Home schools in the United States and Canada have provided a good alternative to the public school system. Because of poor standard of teaching and indiscipline among students many parents do not want to send their young children to public schools for primary education. Private schools are expensive. Housewives collect the neighborhood children and tutor them informally. Where needed trained teachers are hired. Educational aids are available in the form of books and in websites. The government initially discouraged home schools declaring them as illegal but has now recognizing their value approved the system. Home schools are inexpensive and safe. Children need not travel long distances and carry heavy loads of papers. Students can join any schools or collage after finishing home school.

If this system is adopted in countries like India universal education is an attainable goal. A lot of money is saved in paraphernalia-- buildings, equipment and teaching staff. Children would also be liberated from the suffocating atmosphere of crowded classrooms, which have increasingly become 'dens of slavery' as Gandhi termed it.

Gandhian Alliance for Good Governance

By Swachid K. Rangan

PREAMBLE

India today is radically different from what Mahatma Gandhi had visualized 60 years ago when he led the freedom struggle against the British rulers. Gandhiji's vision of India was a 'Union of Village Republics' where each of the 700,000 villages would have an elected panchayat, fully autonomous with all the powers to govern itself. Unfortunately his concept of a vibrant democracy based on Village Swaraj was ignored in the Indian Constitution. Instead, the British model of parliamentary democracy dominated by political parties was adopted. This has taken India along the path of peril, far removed from the Gandhian path of peace and prosperity.

Today, majority of the people live in misery. Hunger, Ignorance and Disease still remain the major problems. All pervasive corruption, aggravated by the use of money and muscle power by the political parties to win elections, has been worsening the situation. The growing divide between the super rich and the down trodden has given impetus to extremism. Terrorism stalks the country. People will erupt in violence if the state of affairs is allowed to continue.

Gandhiji's prescription can cure all the ills. The system needs to be overhauled and a new leadership committed to Gandhian ideology must take over the reins of governance. With this objective in view a Manifesto has been evolved to create a new political force: Gandhian Alliance for Good Governance.

DECLARATION

1. The government that will be formed with the support of the Alliance will adopt a Gandhian approach in the resolution of all problems confronting the Nation.
2. The drift away from the Gandhian path will be reversed.
3. The local self-government from Panchayat to City Corporation will be rid of party politics.
4. Labour Unions, Student Unions, Co-operatives and other professional bodies will also be freed from the clutches of political parties.
5. Based on the Gandhian concept of Gram Swaraj, village and town panchayats (wards) will have elected administration that will be empowered to function independently with adequate financial support.
6. Panchayats will elect the members of the State Assembly and Parliament that will usher in a partyless democracy, truly a Gandhian Republic of India.

Structure

1. The Alliance, an association of non-party institutions and social activists, will have a four-tier structure: Village/Town Councils, District Council, General Council and Executive Council.
2. The primary members will elect the members of village/town councils. They will elect a leader who in turn will be members of District Councils. They will elect a President and a 7-member administrative Committee. The presidents of District Councils will elect the members of the General Council who will elect a 7-member Executive Council.
3. Under this plan there will be 700,000 Village/town councils, 700 District Councils, a 70-member General Council, a 7- member Executive Council and a Chairperson.
4. Elections will be held to the village/town councils every five years. All the primary members will participate in this election.
5. The Presidents of the Councils will hold office for five-years. No person will hold the same post for more than two consecutive terms.
6. Primary members will be enrolled in groups of ten. A nominal fee is payable annually through the group leader.

MANIFESTO

Ushering in a Partyless Democracy

7. The Alliance will strive for good governance at all levels and, by adopting the Gandhian approach, find solutions to all the problems confronting the Nation so as to reverse the drift toward anarchy.
8. Political parties will be kept out of local self-governments, trade unions, cooperatives and other professional bodies.
9. The Alliance will bring in a new Democratic System where political parties would have no role.
10. Panchayat members will elect the members of the District Councils, State Assemblies and Parliament.
11. The members of each of the elected bodies will elect, by a simple majority, a leader who will be the Chairperson of the District Council, Chief Minister of State and Prime Minister of the country respectively. If there are more than two candidates the leader will be elected by preferential voting.
12. The elected leaders will hold office for a five-year term and will be free to choose their own executive/cabinet members from among the members of the elected bodies. No person will hold the same post for more than two consecutive terms.
13. The removal of the Head of the government will only be by two-thirds voting in favour of a no-confidence motion.
14. Under the new democratic system direct elections are held only at the bottom level to the Panchayats. Elections to higher legislative bodies are limited to the elected members of the Panchayats. This will put an end to the malpractices in the present expensive and complicated electoral process dominated by the political parties.

Fighting Corruption

15. The fountainhead of corruption is party politics and the governments that evolve from it. By implementing, in letter and spirit, the Constitutional amendments of 73 and 74 on Panchayat Raj, political parties will be barred from local body elections. This will enable clean candidates with good public image be elected.
16. Generally, illegally earned money is invested in real estate, vehicles and gold. To unravel it, annual Acquisition Tax will be levied on the basis of area or value. AQT annual returns will be verified with source of income. Anyone found having accumulated wealth beyond his or her legitimate resources will be subject to severe action and the property confiscated. AQT will discourage benami holdings and hoarding of unaccounted money.
17. Black money supports the parallel economy operated by criminals trading in smuggled goods and illicit liquor and narcotics as also funding of election expenses of the political parties. To check this, the Reserved Bank will withdraw old currency notes from circulation whenever new notes are issued. It would be mandatory that old currency notes exchanged for the new through bank accounts only with the source declared. This will also make counterfeit currency in circulation instantly invalid.
18. Candidates for elections will be required to attach AQT statements to nomination papers. This would show the character and eligibility of the candidate.
19. Since AQT will fetch several times more revenue to the government, Direct Taxes including Income Tax will be abolished. It will save the honest citizen from official harassment and corruption. Rich farmers who are not subjected to income tax so far will also have to pay AQT. The compliance rate will be high as AQT establishes real ownership of property beyond doubt.
20. AQT will be levied by the Central Government but the responsibility of collection will be entrusted to the local bodies. The local bodies, the State government and the Central Government will share the total collection in the ratio of 50:25:25.
21. AQT will inculcate the Gandhian spirit of trusteeship among the rich who will be encouraged to put their surplus income into productive uses for the benefit of the Society at large.

Banishing Hunger

22. Expanding population, low productivity and benefits of development projects failing to reach the beneficiaries are the main reasons for the unresolved problem of growing poverty. Drastic measures are needed to remedy the critical situation.
23. Single-child norm will be propagated intensively and those having more than two off springs will be made ineligible to hold government jobs and elective posts.
24. To enhance productivity in farming and small industries new tools, guidance, training and financial assistance will be provided through agricultural and technological institutions in every district.
25. The industrial and agricultural policy will be geared to promote job-oriented projects. Priority will be for big industries offering maximum job opportunities and to agro industries in rural areas.
26. The educated unemployed will be enrolled in career training programs according to their talent and desire and placed in suitable jobs. A subsistence allowance will be paid during the training period. No one will be left idle.

Providing water for all

27. Depleting water resources forebode disaster to the community. A Potable Water Grid linked to major reservoirs through giant pipes and stored in larger water silos at strategic places will be built covering scarcity areas in every State.
28. A flood control program will be implemented by raising check dams across the rivulets and mountain streams to divert the floodwaters during monsoon toward lakes and irrigation tanks. This would help raise ground water level and also prevent swelling of rivers and the floodwater drained out in the sea. Some of the west flowing rivers originating in the Western Ghats will be diverted eastward and their water stored in large reservoirs.
29. Linking of major rivers will be executed as inter-State projects by digging wide navigable canals taking into account environmental considerations.

Removing Ignorance

30. Literacy alone cannot remove ignorance and superstition widely prevalent among the masses. The education policy will be designed to combine science and spirituality to strengthen the inherent moral fiber in every human being from young age.
31. Beginning from the age of four, the child will learn primary, secondary and higher education for the duration of five years each. Thus by the age of nine the child would have learnt the three 'R's. By the age of 14 basic arts and science subjects and by the age of 19 specialized subjects.
32. The medium of instruction will be English for science subjects and mother tongue for other subjects.
33. To achieve the goal of universal education all the children under 10 years of age will be enrolled compulsorily in a neighborhood government school. Classes at the primary level can be held outside the school compound entrusted to qualified teachers such as educated women and retired teachers. This would ease the space problem in schools as also save much expenditure in infrastructure.
34. A new gurukulam system of a network of single teacher schools will be introduced by awarding incentives. There will be common syllabus based on the Gandhian concept of basic education. The government will hold a terminal examination with certificate of literacy, Primary School Leaving Certificate, issued to the successful students. Non-formal adult education and private schools could also be brought under this modern gurukulam system.
35. Secondary education will be in regular classes according to a common syllabus and the public examination conducted by the government for obtaining Secondary School Leaving Certificate. Arts and Craft will be included in the syllabus.
36. Higher education will be in schools but will follow the syllabus prescribed by the regional University that will conduct the examination and award degrees such as Bachelor of Arts. Science or Commerce. The Universities campuses will be devoted to post-graduate courses, research and for professional subjects in education, law, medicine, engineering and technology.
37. In providing educational and job opportunities reservation policy will be pursued giving priority to the underprivileged class of people with no security for a living.
38. There will be a national education policy with uniform curriculum that will include Gandhian ideology so as to make the young people committed to truth and nonviolence.

Preventing Disease

39. Prevention is better than cure. Medical facilities will be provided for all the people under a social security scheme that will also take care of the aged and the destitute. At the same time preventive measures will be taken by inoculation against infections and epidemics, and by propagating personal and community healthcare, hygiene and clean environment.

SWACHID

The Alliance will create an army of Soldiers of War Against Corruption, Hunger, Ignorance and Disease from volunteers who will work for the political, economic and social transformation as enumerated in this Manifesto. They will dedicate their life to the cause as Satyagrahis, ready for any sacrifice.

To join the movement fill in the form and email to swachid@swachid.com

Download Form