Bring out the constructive programmes of Mahatma Gandhi during Non-Cooperation Movement and Civil…

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Bring out the constructive programmes of Mahatma Gandhi during Non-Cooperation Movement and Civil Disobedience Movement.

Ghissu Editorial · Accepted Answer

During Non-Cooperation and Civil Disobedience, Gandhi paired boycott with constructive work in khadi, national education, prohibition, Hindu-Muslim unity and the removal of untouchability. The Bezwada programme of 1921 and the Harijan Sevak Sangh of 1932 show how this work sustained the struggle-truce-struggle strategy.

**Introduction**

For Gandhi, swaraj meant remaking society, not merely transferring power. In both the Non-Cooperation (1920-22) and Civil Disobedience (1930-34) movements, constructive work in spinning, schooling and social reform ran alongside boycott and law-breaking.

**Constructive Programme During Non-Cooperation (1920-22)**

1. **Bezwada targets**: The AICC at Bezwada (March 1921) sought one crore members, one crore rupees for the Tilak Swaraj Fund and twenty lakh charkhas.
2. **Khadi and national education**: Khadi gave boycott a positive face, while Gujarat Vidyapith, Jamia Millia Islamia and Kashi Vidyapith trained a nationalist cadre.
3. **Social reform**: Anti-untouchability work, liquor picketing, panchayat arbitration and Hindu-Muslim unity became central after the Bardoli resolution (1922).

**Constructive Work During and After Civil Disobedience (1930-34)**

1. **Salt, khadi and prohibition**: Salt-making at Dandi, khadi and women's picketing of liquor and cloth shops joined self-reliance to boycott; total prohibition headed Gandhi's eleven demands of 1930.
2. **Harijan uplift**: After the Poona Pact, the Harijan Sevak Sangh (1932), the weekly Harijan and the 1933-34 tour targeted untouchability and temple entry.
3. **Village industries**: The All India Village Industries Association (1934) and later the Wardha scheme (1937) institutionalised the work.

SKETCH: flow-cycle | Struggle-Truce-Struggle
- Mass struggle
- Withdrawal and truce
- Constructive work
- Cadres and morale rebuilt
- Renewed struggle

**Way Forward**

1. **Unfinished agenda**: Article 17 abolished untouchability, but social equality, decentralised livelihoods and education with work remain tasks for today.

**Conclusion**

The constructive programme gave Gandhian movements staying power, sustaining the struggle-truce-struggle strategy and carrying the Congress into villages. Despite khadi's weak economics and Ambedkar's charge of paternalism, it made swaraj a social as well as a political project.

Bring out the constructive programmes of Mahatma Gandhi during Non-Cooperation Movement and Civil Disobedience Movement.

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