* Professor Kamta Prasad, Chairman, Institute for Resource Management and Economic Development, Delhi. A former President of the Indian Economic Association and Professor (Retd.) of Economics and Rural Development, IIPA, New Delhi.
This paper, deals with poverty eradication in India which was a subject very near to the heart of the late Tarlok Singh. He was born with a mission to eradicate poverty, he lived with this mission with an extraordinary zeal and died with the same mission. He used to view the relevance of any policy or programme mainly from this angle. Discussion on any topic with him would often come to veer round to a discussion on eradication of poverty.
The paper explores the potential of economic ideas of Gandhi in eradicating poverty in India under the present day scenario. This particular theme was also very dear to the late Tarlok Singh. The paper picks up relevant ideas from Gandhiji's philosophy and explores their analytical as well as policy implications for poverty eradication for the present day India. The discussion reveals the vast potential of Gandhian economic ideas in removing poverty in our country. The paper also examines the issues related to the compatibility of the Gandhian approach with the aspirations of people in the modem age who are swayed by a desire to avail of the comfort providing sophisticated technology driven consumer products which characterize the industrial society of today.
An initial difficulty which one faces in this connection is the absence of any systematic formulation of the Gandhian viewpoint. Gandhi's ideas on poverty reduction came in pieces spread over several decades of his active life. Nonetheless they are coherent as well as comprehensive. Some of his ideas might also appear similar to those which have been implemented by Government. But such an impression is quite superficial. The essence of Gandhian approach to poverty reduction is yet to be adopted and implemented by the authorities in India.
