[Letter to Mr Minoo Masani]

Summary

This letter, written by Jayaprakash Narayan from Patna on April 3, 1970, asks Minoo Masani to support and sign a national appeal to raise a one-crore-rupee Gram Swaraj Fund for Acharya Vinoba Bhave’s seventy-fifth birthday. Narayan explains that the fund is sponsored by the Sarva Seva Sangh, which has appointed him chairman, and that President V. V. Giri has agreed to serve as its patron.

The enclosed appeal presents Vinoba Bhave as a spiritual seeker, scholar, social reformer, and practitioner of non-violent social action. It highlights the Bhoodan, Gramdan, and Shanti Sena movements as efforts to continue Mahatma Gandhi’s unfinished work of building a non-violent social order. Particular emphasis is placed on land donation, community ownership, village-level cooperation, consensus-based decision-making, and the practical requirements—voluntary workers, organisation, training, and funds—for transforming Gramdan pledges into rural development. The appeal concludes by urging rich and poor alike to contribute to the Gram Swaraj Fund.

Key points

• Narayan seeks Masani’s cooperation and signature for a national fundraising appeal.
• The proposed Gram Swaraj Fund would raise one crore rupees for Vinoba Bhave’s seventy-fifth birthday.
• The Sarva Seva Sangh sponsors the fund and has appointed Narayan as its chairman.
• The appeal praises Vinoba’s spiritual, intellectual, educational, and non-violent social work.
• Bhoodan, Gramdan, and Shanti Sena are presented as stages in the construction of a non-violent social order.
• Gramdan is described through community ownership, intra-village sharing, and consensus-based decision-making.
• The appeal cites land donations, village pledges, and reported improvements in production, dispute settlement, and cooperation.
• The movement is said to require voluntary workers, organisation, planning, training, and substantial financial support.