Gandhian Trusteeship

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BUSINESS ETHICS

Mahatma Gandhi philosophy-Trusteeship model

Seven social sins

1.2.3.4.5.6.7.

Politics without principlesWealth without workCommerce without moralityKnowledge without characterPleasure without conscienceScience without humanityWorship without sacrifice

WHAT IS TRUSTEESHIP

Trust is a fund or asset created to specific purpose. A wealthy person may set aside some funds forspecific purpose and appoint an trustee to manageit and make sure that the benefits are madeavailable to the specific beneficiaries. The beneficiaries are mentioned The trustee is entitled to take a fee for his services. He is expected to take care of the fund on his ownbut he must not take advantage of the fund for hispersonal benefit.

Trusteeship of gandhiji

In the first instance, everything must besurrendered to God and then out of it one mayuse only that which is necessary for the service ofGod's creation, according to one's strict needs When an individual had more than his respectiveportion, he became a trustee of that portion forGod's people. Gandhi suggested this doctrine as an answer tothe economic inequalities, a kind of nonviolentway of resolving all social and economic conflicts.

Therefore man's dignity, and not his material

prosperity . It aims at a distribution of material prosperitykeeping only human dignity in view Besides, trusteeship aims at the rising of themorale of the people by giving them a senseof security in the hands of the trustees

Ideal combination of economics and morals Trusteeship provides a means of transforming


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the present capitalist order of society into anegalitarian one. It gives no quarter to capitalism,but gives the present owning class a chance toreform itself. It is based on the faith that humannature is never beyond redemption. It does not recognize any right of privateownership of property except so far as it may bepermitted by society for its own welfare It does not exclude legislation of the ownershipand use of wealth.

Thus under state regulated trusteeship, an individualwill not be free to hold or use his wealth for selfishsatisfaction in disregard to the interests of society. Just as it is proposed to give a decent minimum livingwage, a limit should be fixed for the maximumincome that would be allowed to any person insociety. The difference between such minimum andmaximum incomes should be reasonable andequitable and variable from time to time, so much sothat the tendancy would be towards the obliterationof the difference. Under the Gandhian economic order, the characterof production will be determined by social necessity

and not by personal greed

Gandhis view of trusteeship was based on thebelief that we do not really own our wealthbut are only trustees of it, meaning that wehave to administer our wealth for the benefitand betterment of the community. In the trusteeship model, wealth does notautomatically go to the family members butonly to those who can function as its trustees. Thus, this idea of trusteeship challenged thefundamental principles of a capitalist society JRD adopted this framework and

implemented it in a practical way within the

While there are many aspects to trusteeshipin its ideal Gandhian form, the fundamentalconcept of trusteeship is about equity andsustainable growth. When viewed from thislens, a Trusteeship approach puts emphasison reconfiguring social and businessstructures so that people feel bothindividually empowered and inclined to act inthe common interest

Some of the key tenets of trusteeship that are

applicable today

Surplus Wealth needs to be kept in trust for the commongood and the welfare of others. To fully adapt the concept of trusteeship, a non violentapproach needs to be adopted. Everything that we do must be economically viable aswell as ethical at the same time making sure that webuild sustainable livelihoods for all. Economic equality through trusteeship will thus ensure


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an equitable distribution of wealth amongst all. Absolute trusteeship is unattainable but if peoplebehave as trustees then we can develop institutions thatare economically viable, yet benign

Trusteeship in todays corp. and CSR

If we examine the role of business in thiscontext and apply the principles ofTrusteeship to todays corporations we candevise a new way of integrating socialresponsibility within the DNA of the business. This will ensure that our companies no longerneed to set up CSR departments to showcaseour efforts, instead CSR will be built intoeverything we do.

Relevance of Gandhian perspective

The Gandhian perspective is more relevanttoday than it was ever before. Gandhi wanted to ensure distributive justiceby ensuring that business acts as a trustee toits many stakeholders and specified that

economic activities cannot be separated fromother activities. Economics is part of the way of life which isrelated to collective values.

Relevance of Gandhian perspective

Gandhi said, True economics stands for socialjustice, it promotes the good of all equally includingthe weakest and is indispensable for a decent life. This has implications at macro economic level andmicro level, as it talks of equitable distribution ofwealth being a measure of success, rather than the

current form which has high income disparities. It also builds the case for CSR being embeddedwithin the business values of the private sector asGandhi clearly states that distribution of wealth isnot about charity but about ensuring basic humandignity.

Solutions to many of the challenges of the 21stcentury:

1. Sustainable consumption consume what is enoughfor your needs without doing harm to others.2. Utilization of natural resources in a sustainable way

you are a trustee and you need to take care ofwhat has been freely provided by nature.3. Dignity of labour and equitable distribution ofwealth wealth alone is not the answer, to feelhappy you need to ensure that the people whowork for you and society at large is taken care of.4. Sustainable livelihoods and not charity are a keyto ensuring human dignity, growth and satisfaction.

TRUSTEESHIP v/s MARXISM


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Gandhian theory can be understood only in thecontext of certain basic spiritual values of theIndian tradition. Marxian socialism aims at the destruction of theclass called capitalists, whereas the Gandhianapproach is not to destroy, but to reform it. Gandhian socialism, being ethical, is differentfrom Marxian socialism. Man, to him, is an ethicalbeing first and a social being later. Marxian socialism harps on violence, Gandhiansocialism aims at a change of heart on the part ofthe rich

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Gandhian Trusteeship