MAHATMA GANDHI AND HIS PHILOSOPHY

The present study is an attempt to comprehend Gandhi’s philosophy and his entire life sprawling in a variety of popular movements through decades. The contexts have been so arranged that the holistic nature of the Gandhian thought becomes self-explanatory. The book presents life, parentage and childhood of Gandhi to explain the impact of factors in the formative phase of his childhood. These sources are valuable and they conclusively shaped his public life in the later years.
It explores the efforts of establishing Ashrams, which were the training institutes to prepare Satyagrahis. It not only reveals Gandhi as an organiser but also as a great experimenter of his novel ideas. It also explains his worldview of society and presents a penetrating analysis of future human society in the East and the West. The ‘Sarvodya Samaj’ of Gandhi has been put in a theoretical perspective. Trusteeship doctrine along with Swadeshi has also been analysed. His variegated political philosophy has been examined in national and international contexts. Secularism, a vexed question of Indian politics and as a philosophy has been explained in terms of its practices by the Mahatma. It further elucidates how can a secularist be religious in the Gandhian way. The book investigates Gandhian concept of ‘Gram Swaraj’ and how Panchayati institutions can be revitalised without pernicious impact of caste and crude power. It also evaluates the Gandhian credo of truth, non-violence, Sarvodaya, Satyagrah and Gram Swarajya in the overall context of multiple challenges of the millennium. It further includes the analysis of contemporary trends of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation in the light of trusteeship and Swadeshi doctrines alongwith their dynamism and relevance for the world society.

B.M. Sharma has been associated with the Department of Political Science, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur for almost four decades in various capacities, namely, Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences; Head, Department of Political Sciences; Member Syndicate (Board of Management); and Director, Social Sciences Research Centre, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur.
He was Chairman of Rajasthan Public Service Commission, Ajmer. He has also been Vice-Chancellor of Kota University, Kota. He has just completed his tenure as Vice-President of Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), New Delhi.
He has also been awarded by the Government of India and the Government of Madhya Pradesh for his writings. The Paul H. Appleby Award 2014 was conferred on him by IIPA, New Delhi for rendering outstanding services to the Institute and to the field of Public Administration. He has been working on Indian Government and Politics, Panchayati Raj, Indian Political Thought, Public Administration and Police Administration. His research papers have been published in national and international journals and magazines. He has authored over thirty books.