Is Atmanirvar Bharat the New Incarnation of Gandhi’s Sarvodaya?
Keywords:
‘Atmanirvar Bharat’, Sarvodaya, Satyagraha, spiritual tolerance, Swadeshi, re-incarnationAbstract
When COVID-19 pandemic broke out in India in 2020 accompanied by socio-economic crisis, the philosophy of ‘Atmanirvar Bharat’ was revived by our Prime Minister. Self-Reliant India is a campaign to make India and its citizens self dependent and self-reliant in all senses. It is a vision of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make a new India based on mainly five pillars: Economy, Infrastructure, System, Vibrant Demography and Demand.
Historically, the concept of Atmanirvar Bharat is not a new one. If we look back on the pre-independent India, its root can be traced in the Sarvodaya movement launched by Gandhi. The term Sarvodaya was coined by Mahatma Gandhi which means ‘well-being for all’, ‘progress for all’ or ‘universal uplift’. ‘Sarvodaya’ as conceived by Gandhi, thus, aimed at an all-round development and welfare for all. The term ‘all-round development’ means development in all spheres of life, social, economic, political, spiritual etc. The philosophy of Sarvodaya aimed at building a plan of political and social reconstruction on the basis of ethical idealism. After Gandhi, the mantle of Sarvodaya fell on his ardent followers, Joy Prakash Narayan and Achariya Binoba Vabe who took various steps for the total uplift of the country.
The recent schemes like ‘Make in India’, ‘Atmanirvar Bharat’ are the new form of Sarvodaya. These schemes of the government of India are an effort to make Mahatma Gandhi’s ideas a reality.
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