Follow up on my Vinoba Bhave ashram visit. " His aim was to help the landless poor and making individuals spiritual!"

It feels nice that the ashram Vallabh Niketan is a haven for about forty students.

A close up of the Mural which Vinoba Bhave would have seen and admired!

Nice expectations!

I am sure Acharya would not mind kids playing cricket!

In the 20th Century, a frail man named Vinoba Narahar Bhave walked about Seventy thousand kilometres for fourteen years in India and received around forty-two lakh acres (Seventeen lakh hectares) of land in a donation for landless farmers. It was a miracle of compassion and love in the history of mankind. Vinoba gave a new dictum to the world.

Science + Spirituality = Sarvodaya (Welfare of all)

Vinoba expressed that, we are in the era when service to all human beings should be considered as service to God.

The Vinoba Bhave website speaks about the Ashrams created by him.

At Kashikabas, Rajasthan (Birthplace of late Shri. Jamanalaji Bajaj) Vinoba declared the formation of Bramha Vidya Mandir at Paunar, He said, “I felt the lack of search for knowledge of the Supreme in our activities and felt this more keenly after Bapu passed away. I became convinced that unless we had this spiritual foundation, our superstructure, our various programs would not last. Without the attainment of Brahmavidya, (knowledge of the Supreme) the well-spring of our thought would dry up, the current would no longer flow fully and freely. Having reached this conclusion, I decided to start a Brahmavidya Mandir. I have described “Brahmavidya Mandir” as a place where one may either attain the highest-the Supreme Vision or find one's whole effort gone for nothing. There is no other institution where there is such an element of risk. Here it is a case of all or nothing—infinity, or zero! We cannot offer any lesser odds. I am constrained to do this thing (establish this Ashram), even if I get is zero. I am not interested in half measures; I must have the infinite or nothing”. This ashram was established on 13th March 1959.....Vinoba Bhave

-Brahma Vidya Mandir Ashram:

About a 15 minute rickshaw ride from Sevagram, in Paunar is the Ashram of Gandhi's disciple, Vinoba Bhave, who once resided with Gandhi at his Sagarmati Ashram in Gujarat. Vinoba Bhave walked throughout India after Gandhi was assassinated for several years asking wealthy landowners to donate land to the countries poor (Bhoodan movement). In addition, he was a sanskrit scholar & spoke many languages. He spent his later years translating the Koran & Bhagavad Gita in addition to writing introductions & critique to several texts. His Brahma Vidya Mandir Ashram is an all female ashram that has a more vibrant feel then Sevagram with a large garden in the center and adjacent fields used to feed the ashram members who practice Swarj (self sufficiency). There is a book store and small exhibition on Vinoba Bhave's life. In addition, the ashram is located beside the Dham River. When visiting in 2008 all guests were encouraged to help out farming or gardening. You can call or write ahead to arrange transportation however men wishing to stay longer then a few days need special permission. Here is a link that can provide more information if interested in staying:
http://hellowardha.com/leftsidemenu/pavanar-ashram/

Mumbai Sarvoday Mandal, is a charitable trust working in Mumbai for spreading the philosophy of Sarvodaya. The trust was registered in the year 1975, however, the work of Sarvoday in Mumbai started way back in the year 1951 when Vinoba started Bhoodan movement. The Sarvodaya workers in Mumbai arrange workshops for College students to teach them the philosophy of Sarvoday. Conduct Gandhi Vichar examination in various prisons of Maharashtra. Arrange discounted sale of Sarvoday books in Mumbai. Two websites namely mkgandhi.org and vinobabhave.org on life and mission of Mahatma Gandhi and Acharya Vinoba Bhave respectively are hosted by the Mandal. Gandhi Book Centre- a book store is run by the Mandal.Birthplace of Acharya Vinoba Bhave, Gagode Budruk, Pen taluka, Raigad: Vinoba was born at Gagode on 11th September 1895. About five hundred acres of land in Gagode village was donated in Bhoodan by Bhave family in the year 1954. The ancestral house of Bhave family was also given by Bhave family for the work of Sarvodaya in the year 1955. A trust Acharya Vinoba Bhave Janmastan Pratistan was registered in the year 1985. Historical records of Bhave family, original letters of Vinoba and articles used by Vinoba are displayed here. A portrait painting of Vinoba by noted artist Suhas Bahulkar is displayed in the room where Vinoba was born.

Maitri Ashram. North Lakhimpur Block, Assam, India: About this Ashram Vinoba said. "Whatever rules, purposes and programs may be introduced here everything is covered by this word ‘Maitri’, Friendship. The only truth is friendship. The Only purpose is friendship, and the only program is friendship. This is a place of friendship. And as the problems of society go very deep, our friendship must find expression in the solution of those problems. We expect that the Maitri Ashram might keep in touch with the outside world and become a place of international friendship”. This ashram was established on 5th March 1962.

Samanvaya Ashram. Vinoba established the ashram in the Bodh Gaya in Bihar (eastern India) and Dwarkoji was asked to be the in-charge of this Ashram in 1962. At the Ashram, Dwarkoji launched an education program for children. The principle he adopted was "education for life, education of life, and education through life". Education was correlated to the life-needs of rural villages. As of 2002, the school has been in continuous operation and has grown to cover 10,000 children in 167 villages. Two residential schools provide shelter, clothing, food, health care, education and loving care for 140 students. For the last 18 years, the Ashram has been also conducting very successful cataract eye operation camps. About 15,000 patients receive free eye operations each year. Local "terrorist" groups respect the social service provided by the Ashram to the villages and (diabolically) offer protection to the Ashram.

It was amazing to read about the ashram in Bihar. However I could not see anything about the other two ashrams on the web.

Visarjan Ashram in Navlakha, Indore..Social service organisation

Prasthan Ashram Nature Cure Centre..Pathankot. Nature cure centre.

While it is interesting to know about the ashrams, what happened to the donated lands feels more important. I tried to research on the subject.

Intriguing that the article below is fairly recent and asks a question after 60 years! No idea how accurate are the details given in the article below.

Where’s Bhoodan Land By Richard Mahapatra
Published: Monday 30 November -0001 (?)
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/wheres-bhoodan-land-34263
Government prefers not to talk about the 931,000 ha collected under land-gift movement Gifting of land, or bhoodan in Hindi, is the current obsession of the government. It is on a spree of acquiring land. This is often termed as bhoodan to corporate houses. There is another kind of bhoodan that is being talked about. For a country that is demographically young, this bhoodan took place as a movement when India was just four years old. Then, it meant a gift from landed people, assumed rich, to the landless. But why contemplate that movement now?

First, it completes 60 years and we do not know what happened of those precious gifts. Second, the current bhoodan threatens to acquire the land—over 931,000 hectares (ha)—collected under the earlier bhoodan. There are widespread reports of taking over these tracts of land for developing projects. The government’s response to this is passive, if not mute.

Bhoodan Movement was started by Mahatma Gandhi’s disciple Vinoba Bhave in April 1951. Born spontaneously at an evening meeting in an Andhra Pradesh village, the movement saw land owners gifting land to the landless. Within six years, about 1.9 million ha were collected. Over the next two decades the movement took shape of a law called the Bhoodan Act and put the government in charge of distributing land from the land bank. The movement later transformed into Gramdan (village in gift) movement, under which the whole or a major part of a village land was donated by not less than 75 per cent of the residents for equal distribution among all village residents. Tribal areas, currently under vigorous land acquisition, were major participants in the Gramdan movement. Both the movements died eventually but left behind the land bank.

In the past six decades the government has distributed around 971,000 ha of the bhoodan land among the landless. Of the people who received the land many could not take physical possession as influential people encroached upon their land. There are over 931,000 ha more to be distributed. But the government does not talk much about this land bank. In fact, it does not issue a status report except for a stale five- to 10-line paragraph in a voluminous annual report of the Union ministry of rural development. There is no official record of these tracts of lands, their location and status, nor any serious effort to identify and distribute them among the landless.

Reports are that the government is now distributing land from the bank to housing, industrial and other projects. As this happens, the price of the bhoodan land goes up. This is where the nexus of local influential people and government officials come into picture; the land deeds are transferred to undeserving (read influential) people for a windfall. In a way, this has hastened usurping of the bhoodan land. Several documents on the status of land show that 50 per cent of this undistributed bhoodan land has already been encroached upon or transferred to undeserving people. In the absence of specific data, social activists working on land reforms cite instances of bhoodan land being given to corporate houses in nine states.

For example, in Andhra Pradesh the urban development authority of Visakhapatnam has allocated the bhoodan land for housing projects. The state government has allocated large chunks of the bhoodan land in Ranga Reddy district to industrialists; estimated market value of the land is Rs 1,500 crore. Investigations are under way into how the tracts were sold to companies in violation of the Bhoodan Act. A probe is also on in Maharashtra into bhoodan land grab by builders and housing societies involving politicians.

Several instances of land being given away to members of legislative assembly cutting across party lines have emerged in Bihar, where Chief Minister Nitish Kumar claims that distributing the bhoodan land is his priority. The Bihar Land Reform Commission recently unmasked one such scandal. The government’s land bank recorded a gift of 262,430 ha, of which only 103,335 ha had been distributed to 315,454 families and over 112,000 ha were shown as not suitable for distribution. There was no record of how the government reached this decision. There was no record of any verification.

“Without such verification the possibility of lands being utilized by unauthorized persons including land mafia cannot be ruled out,” the commission warned. Though distribution of the bhoodan land is a key activity under the government’s land reform exercise, it has not gained momentum. Instead, it has allowed the government to grab land meant for the poor. To streamline the system, in 2007 the Centre set up the National Land Reform Council with the prime minister as the chairperson. But it has not even met once. In October the prime minister will convene a meeting of the council. Hopefully, it does talk about the bhoodan land.

The above article claims that lands which were meant for farmers are now given to non-farmers!

A link for those interested. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhoodan_movement

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/64-yrs-on-bhoodan-movement-beneficiaries-yet-to-get-land/articleshow/46963509.cms

The article is brief, worth reading! The movement started in 1951 and had collected about 4.5 million acres by 1957. Sad to see it failed due to the selfishness of people involved all across.

The article bemoans the fact that almost 50%, about 2.3 million acres are yet to be distributed as of 2015. A BJP member requested that this should be done as early as possible.

It is interesting to read the article in full. It appears to be a tutorial.

https://mrunal.org/2013/11/land-reforms-bhodan-gramdan-jan-satyagraha-2012-other-non-governmental-movements-achievements-obstacles-limitations.html

The following reflects the ground reality.

Obstacles, Limitations, Problem

After ’56 movement lost its momentum.
While nearly 4.5 million acres of Bhoodan land was available- barely 6.5 lakh acres was actually distributed among 200,000 families (1957)
In some cases the donors took back their land from the Bhoodan workers for certain reasons.
This created doubts in the minds of some people about the continuity of the movement.

Village leaders, or allotting authorities, demanded money from the poor for recommending their names for allotment. As a result, many undeserving villagers also got land e.g those already having land/ those involved in trade-commerce. Bhoodan movement created land hunger among landless.Some of them applied multiple times in the name of wives, children etc. to get more and more free land.

Big landlords donated those land which were unfit for cultivation (or under court litigation). Such donations served no real purpose. Sometimes Bhoodan workers would even accept disputed land as gift. Without verification. Later the Matter would be stuck in court litigation and beneficiary would get nothing.

In the later phase, Bhoodan workers got associated with one or another political parties lost credibility and respect among villagers land gifts declined. Since Bhoodan workers became political agents, some landlords donated land as ‘bribe’ to Bhoodan workers- with hope of getting favourable returns e.g. ticket in local election, road-contracts, building contracts etc. And if they were not given such favors- they’d forcibly take back the Bhoodan land from the beneficiary later on.

Mere allotment of land was insufficient. Because landless farmer also needed seeds, fertilizer, irrigation etc..Often the beneficiary couldn’t arrange loans for these inputs. The average size of land given to beneficiary=0.5 to 3 acres. Result: land fragmentation + diseconomies of scale + ‘disguised unemployment’ without any noticeable rise in agro-production.

District officials were slow and inefficient in finishing the formalities of Bhoodan land transfers.donated land remained idle for a number of years and the revenue for it had to be paid by the donor.

The article also examines Gramdan. Which perhaps would have lead the country towards co-operative farming. Original idea came from Gandhi’s reply to Jamnalal Bajaj: “it is far better for a hundred families in a village to cultivate their land collectively and divide the income therefrom than to divide the land any how into a hundred portions”.

Gramdan was successful mainly in villages where class differentiation had not yet emerged and there was little if any disparity in ownership of land or other property. E.g. Tribal villages. But didn’t find cooperation from other villages in the plains or villages near urban centers.

It was an incredible movement and feels truly sad to read how it spluttered into a stop. It is nice to know a trust is keeping the Acharya's name alive.

However the country has already moved (?) towards a capitalistic economy. I do notice that the automobile sector is doing well. Many more imported cars are seen on the roads and roads are flooded with two wheelers. So it is not all that bad.

We have yet to face fully the fall-out of the pandemic. If we are worried about the poorest of the poor, we see many sops are announced by governments. There are also charities, NGO's and so on. Hopefully they will not go hungry.

Only middle class especially the non-government employees and small time business men who have no real 'social security' could be worried. Those who are able to save thru PPF would have a safety net. We are also advised to try mutual funds (Sahi hai!) to compensate for the falling interest rates. Frankly I am clueless about the MF option.