Collective land ownership
According to Vinoba, During British rule, India was a slave country with slave villages. After independence, India became an independent nation with slave villages! In order to transform India into an ‘independent nation with independent villages’, Vinoba put forth the idea of ‘Gramswarajya’, which could be achieved through collective ownership of land.
Vinoba says that decentralization of power through Panchayatraj is like creating a ‘decentralized exploitation scheme’. Even though power is decentralized, it still remains ‘power’. He argues that Panchaytraj would instill jealousy in the villages because the idea of ‘power’ is not completely eliminated. So, he says that by giving up the land ownership rights and by creating a stateless, non-violent society, we have to implement the idea of Gramswarajya.There is sufficient evidence that the concept of individual ownership of land that is prevalent at present was not there in India in the ancient times. The state was not the ultimate and sovereign owner of the land; it had only the right to a certain share in the produce of the land. In the Middle Ages, due to increasing demands of the state, the land revenue started increasing. During the period of British imperialism, it reached unbelievable levels. As a result, farmers got into the debt trap and eventually, with land becoming a saleable community, the condition worsened.Vinoba says that right to sell the land is an unjust, sinful phenomenon. Village is like a family and it must operate through a system based on love, just like family. Bhoodan movement was a step towards addressing one of the most critical issues of our villages – unjust land ownership and unequal distribution of land. Gramdaan is the next step in the process where an entire village becomes owner of the whole land within the village boundaries. The trigger point of Bhoodan movement was land donation of 100 acres made by Ramchandra Reddy in Pochampalli (18 April 1951), when the dalits in the village demanded land and Vinoba asked the villagers if they could do something. During the course of Bhoodan yatra across India, all the landholders in Mangroth village in Uttar Pradesh donated their entire land (828 acres) and Mangroth became the first Gramdani village in India. By 30 September 1962, total of 5,30,344 donors had given 41,62,623 acres of land; 11,20,485 acres of land had been distributed to 3,13,866 landless persons and the number of gramdani villages was 5079.Later, Bhoodan Acts were passed in almost all the states, and Bhoodan committees were constituted under the acts. It was found to be more practicable to proceed towards the dissolution of landownership in a phased manner. Vinoba therefore put forward the scheme of ‘Sulabh Gramdan’ where major part of the land would remain with the original owners and their descendants, but it can be transferred within the village only and that too with the permission of the gramsabha.The concept of Gramdan and the ensuing Gramdan Acts remain the most potent instruments for village self-governance.
