1947 - 1953
From Socialism To Sarvodaya

Much of the blame of the disappointing election result fell on JP. At Panchmarhi he accepted the responsibility being the main strategist of the election on behalf of the Socialist party. Orthodox socialists were already feeling that JP was straying from the accepted path. At Panchmarhi JP referred to the Bhoodan Yagna campaign started by Vinoba Bhave as a major step in mobilizing

public opinion in favour of land redistribution. This was in spite of the fact that, in strict Marxism terms, Vinoba favoured a process of class conciliation rather than conflict. JP was attracted to Bhoodan Movement not only as a method of land redistribution but also to lay the foundations of a party less form of democracy. A letter written to the executive of PSP after his withdrawal from the office is most significant in view of misinformed or hostile crtiticism he faced later: “Even though I believe in, and am working for, a non-party democracy, I would like to see parliamentary democracy ...to be as successful as possible. I fear that a failure ...would be a tragedy for India and perhaps also for Asia....there is no reason, without creating a better alternative system, to let the present experiment fail.”

After recovering from the three weeks fast, JP spent more and more time on Bhoodan work, especially in Gaya district. In one week he collected pledges for 7000 acres. He was greatly moved by this experience. He found that the poorer land owners were far more willing to donate land then the richer ones. He felt a sense of kinship with them. The experience was as much of a landmark in his life as listening to Abul Kalam Azad’s speech in his student days in Patna. He worked with zeal of a new convert. He pointed to the fact that more land had been distributed to the landless through Bhoodan movement than through all the land reform laws passed by the legislature. He called Bhoodan movement “an experiment in non-violent economic revolution”. He tried hard to involve youth and he got immediate response. In 1954 at a sarvodaya conference at Bodh Gaya where Lord Buddha found enlightenment JP announced his commitment of Jeevandaan, inspired by him 600 young men and women followed his example. All over the country he was regarded as Nehru’s most likely successor. To have given up politics in these circumstances was a major act of renunciation.

JP set up an ashram in Sukhodevra, a remote area on the border of Gaya district in Bihar to do constructive work and create a model village. But he could not be contained to the ashram as he felt called upon to issue statements on national and international developments that touched him deeply. But for two decades after his call on Vinoba in 1951, JP devoted himself to Bhoodan. Pledges for nearly a million acres had been collected by the end of the decade. The pace slowed thereafter. In the early years the provisions were fairly strict but when the response began to fall, the requirements were loosened. Vinoba firmly opposed any kind of coercion to get the results, even the kind the kind of peaceful Satyagraha that Gandhiji sanctioned. JP would have liked keep the provision stricter and use the peaceful coercion where required, but he surrendered to the leader of the movement - Vinoba.

JP went on a tour f Europe, full of confidence in Bhoodan movement. He visited similar institutions. He was particularly impressed by the amount of voluntary work done in Europe without waiting for or expecting government help. On his return P was invited to address members of parliament on 23 September 1958. He said to them that the system they represented “is not suited for our country....is a game of a very small class of people... real guarantee of democracy is....the strength of the people ...capacity of the people to manage their affairs themselves....this is not happening....and not going to happen in future ....and this is a great danger...anything could emerge....even a dictatorship....” He said, “just because the people participate once in five years ...you cannot say there is democracy”. He had developed the concept of party less democracy by then. He also discussed voters having control over nomination of the candidates, similar to the system he had seen in Yugoslavia. But his ideas could not evoke any response from Delhi.

By 1960 Bhoodan campaign lost its early appeal. Some of the donated land was found to be of poor quality, some plots were too small for living, there were legal hurdles to transfer property, some of the donors had second thoughts of the donation and some even forcibly took back the property. The movement also lacked enough volunteers to achieve the mammoth target set of 50 million acres. In 1957 Tarun Shanti Sena was formed to fill the gap by then it was too late.

Though JP and Vinoba agreed on essentials, they operated on a different time scale. Vinoba was not particularly concerned with how long a process took; he wanted to instil the right moral ideas. He had no use for coercion not even Gandhian Satyagraha. Neither Gandhi nor JP had so much patience; they did not want process of change to take any longer than necessary because delay meant so much more suffering for so many.

This difference eventually resurfaced during Bihar movement .

A 14- Point Programme that JP sent to Nehru on 4th March 1953

1. Amendments to the Constitution
   1.
   a.To remove the obstacles in the way of social change;
   b.To abolish guarantees to princes, and civil servants, etc
   c.To abolish second chambers
   
1. 2.
   a.Administrative reforms at all levels, including decentralisation of power and administrative authority ;
   b.Reform of law and legal procedure
   c.Summary and effective machinery to deal with corruption
   
1. 3.
   Redrawing the administrative map of India on the basis of logistic, economic and administrative considerations. Appointment o a commission by parliament to work out the details on the basis of the above mentioned principles.
   Reduction of administrative cost by having regional (multistate) governors, High Courts, and other top level tribunals and public service commissions.
   
1. 4.
   a. Redistribution of land to remove economic inequality and exploitation; preference to be given in all such schemes to landless labour and poor peasants.
   b.Immediate stoppage of all evictions
   c.Suitable legislation to prevent fragmentation and bring about consolidation of holdings.
   d.Abolition of the remaining forms of landlordism
   e.Rural economy to be transformed into cooperative economy through compulsory multipurpose societies.
   f.State assistance in providing credit and other facilities to agriculture; such assistance to be given through multipurpose societies.
   g.The state, as far as possible, to deal not with individual peasants but through a group f them organised in a cooperative or Panchayat. This should include collection of land revenue, a part of which to remain with the village as organised in the multipurpose society or Panchayat.
1. 5. Reclamation of waste land and settlement of landless labour on them through village collectives. No waste land to be allotted for the capitalist farming.
   
1. 6. Nationalisation of bank and insurance companies
   
1. 7. Progressive development of state trading
   
1. 8. Select number of plants in different industries to be owned and run by the state cooperatives or autonomous corporations or workers’ councils. Fostering organisations of technicians and managers to provide expert advice and administrative personnel for state enterprises.
   
1. 9. Unified trade union movement organised on the basis of the union shops. This will enable the unions to become socially responsible agencies.
   
1. 10. Nationalisation of coal and other mines producing important minerals.
   
1. 11. Association of workers in the management of state enterprises
   
1. 12. Demarcation of spheres of large and small scale industries, and establishing, encouraging and protecting small scale industries.
   
1. 13. As a first step towards achieving economic equality in the country higher salaries and emoluments in government service shall be scaled down.
   
1. 14. The spirit of swadeshi to be prompted and made to pervade all walks of life.