Bhoodan movement
The Bhoodan movement (Land Gift movement), also known as the Bloodless Revolution, was a voluntary
The Bhoodan movement attempted to persuade wealthy landowners to voluntarily give a percentage of their land to landless people. Bhave drew philosophical inspiration from the Sarvodaya movement and Gram Swarajya.
Method
Landless laborers were given small plots on which they could settle and grow their crops. This Act was passed so that the beneficiary had no right to sell the land or use it for non-agricultural purposes or forestry. For example, Section 25 of the Maharashtra State Bhoodan Act states that the beneficiary (who must be landless) should only use the land for subsistence cultivation. If the "owner" failed to cultivate the land for over a year or tried to use it for non-agriculture activities, the government would have the right to confiscate it.[2]
Bhave wanted peasants to give up using
History
Bhave crossed
Movement organizers had arranged for Bhave to stay at Pochampally, a village of about 700 families, of whom two-thirds were landless. Bhave visited the
Other landowners including Raja Bahadur Giriwar Narayan Singh, C.B.E. and Raja of Ranka (Garhwa Jharkhand)
Maharaja Kamakhya Narain Singh Bahadur of Ramgarh Raj donated 200,000 acres (810 km2) of land to Vinoba Bhave and others under the Bihar Bhoodan Yagna Act, before the institution of the suit, making it the biggest donation from any king.[7]
During Vinoba Bhave's Surajgarh visit, he was welcomed by headmaster Rambilas Sharma, who was instrumental in spreading the Bhoodan movement in the Jhunjhunu district in the late 1950s and early 1960s.[8][9]
The initial objective of the movement was to secure voluntary donations and distribute them to the landless but soon came to demand 1/6 of all private land. In 1952, the movement widened the concept of gram dan
Legacy
This movement developed into a village gift or gramdan movement and was a part of a comprehensive movement for establishing a Sarvodaya society (the rise of all socio-economic-political order), both in and outside India.[10]
By the 1960s, the movement had lost momentum. The Sarvodaya Samaj failed to build a mass movement that would generate pressure for social transformation. However, the movement made a significant contribution by creating moral ambivalence, putting pressure on landlords, and creating conditions favorable to the landless.[11]
References
- ^ OCLC 1152150287.
- ^ Grover, Neha (9 November 2022). "Bhoodan Movement - Agriculture Notes". Prepp. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
- ^ "The Hindu: Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News: 'Bhoodan' board to take on encroachers". 2009-11-25. Archived from the original on 2009-11-25. Retrieved 2021-06-30.
- ^ "A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE NIZAMS OF HYDERABAD". outlookindia.com. August 5, 2017. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
- ^ "Much of Bhoodan land found to be under encroachment in city". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Sep 4, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
- ^ "Documents of the ... Conference of All India Kisan Sabha". All India Kisan Sabha. 1954. p. 14.
Giriwar Prasad Narain Singh, Raja of Ranka (Palamau district) donated (!) 1,02,001 acres
- ^ State Of Bihar vs Ramgarh Farms And Industries Ltd.
- ISBN 9781482857634.
- OCLC 1152292663.
- ^ "Bhoodan Movement". 2011-06-11. Archived from the original on 2011-06-11. Retrieved 2021-06-30.
- ^ India since independence - Bipin Chandra
Additional reading
- Bhoodan and the Landless, S. V. Khandewale and K. R. Nanekar, Popular Prakashan, 1973
- Bhoodan Movement in India: An Economic Assessment, Raghavendra Nath Misra, New Delhi: S. Chand and Company Pvt Ltd, 1972.
- Moved by Love, Vinoba Bhave, Paramdhan Prakashan, 1994.