सार्वजनिक संस्था म्हणजे लोकांची मान्यता आणि लोकांचे पैसे यांवर चालणारी संस्था. अशा संस्थेला लोकांची मदत मिळेनाशी होईल तेव्हा तिला अस्तित्वात राहण्याचा हक्कच राहत नाही. कायम फंडावर चालणाऱया संस्था लोकमताविषयी बेपर्वा होताना आढळतात; कित्येक वेळा तर धडधडीत लोकमताविरुद्ध आचरण करताना दृष्टीस पडतात. अशा तऱहेचे अनुभव हिंदुस्थानात आपल्याला पावलोपावली येतात. धार्मिक म्हटल्या जाणाऱया कित्येक संस्थांच्या हिशेबठिशेबांचा ठावठिकाणा नाही. त्यांचे व्यवस्थापक त्यांचे मालक होऊन बसले आहेत, आणि त्यांच्यावर कोणाचा ताबा चालत नाही. सृष्टी ज्याप्रमाणे रोजचे अन्न रोज तयार करुन रोज खाते, त्याप्रमाणे सार्वजनिक संस्थांचे असले पाहिजे, याबद्दल मला तिळमात्र शंका नाही. ज्या संस्थेला लोक मदत करण्यास तयार नाहीत त्या संस्थेला सार्वजनिक संस्था म्हणून जगण्याचा अधिकारच नाही. प्रतिवर्षी लोकवर्गणीतून मिळणारा फंड ही त्या त्या संस्थेच्या लोकप्रियतेची व तिच्या व्यवस्थापकांच्या प्रामाणिकपणाची कसोटी आहे; आणि प्रत्येक संस्थेने या कसोटीला उतरलेच पाहिजे, असा माझा अभिप्राय आहे.
या माझ्या लिहिण्याविषयी गैरसमज होऊ नये. ज्या संस्थांना इमल्याची वगैरे जरुर लागते, अशा संस्थांना वरील टीका लागू पडत नाही. सार्वजनिक संस्थांच्या दैनंदिन खर्चाचा आधार स्वेच्छेने मिळालेली वार्षिक लोकवर्गणी हाच असला पाहिजे.
हे विचार दक्षिण आफ्रिकेतील सत्याग्रहाच्या वेळी दृढ झाले. ह्या सहा वर्षांच्या महान झगड्यासाठी लाखो रुपयांची जरुर पडली, पण तो कायमनिधीशिवाय चालला. अशीही वेळ आठवते, की जेव्हा उद्याचा खर्च कोठून मिळेल याची मला कल्पनाही नव्हती.
(स्रोत ः सत्याचे प्रयोग अथवा आत्मकथा, महात्मा गांधी, पान 187-188)
Mahatma
Gandhi on FUNDING for movement
Gandhi on FUNDING for movement
Sheth
Adamji Miyakhan had, in my absence, discharged his duty with great
credit. He had increased the membership and added about £1,000
to the coffers of the Natal Indian Congress. The awakening caused by
the bills and the demonstration against the passengers I turned to
good account by making an appeal for membership and funds, which now
amounted to £5,000. My desire was to secure for the Congress a
permanent fund, so that it might procure property of its own and then
carry on its work out of the rent of the property. This was my first
experience of managing a public institution. I placed my proposal
before my co- workers, and they welcomed it. The property that was
purchased was leased out and the rent was enough to meet the current
expenses of the Congress. The property was vested in a strong body of
trustees and is still there today, but it has become the source of
much internecine quarrelling with the result that the rent of the
property now accumulates in the court.
Adamji Miyakhan had, in my absence, discharged his duty with great
credit. He had increased the membership and added about £1,000
to the coffers of the Natal Indian Congress. The awakening caused by
the bills and the demonstration against the passengers I turned to
good account by making an appeal for membership and funds, which now
amounted to £5,000. My desire was to secure for the Congress a
permanent fund, so that it might procure property of its own and then
carry on its work out of the rent of the property. This was my first
experience of managing a public institution. I placed my proposal
before my co- workers, and they welcomed it. The property that was
purchased was leased out and the rent was enough to meet the current
expenses of the Congress. The property was vested in a strong body of
trustees and is still there today, but it has become the source of
much internecine quarrelling with the result that the rent of the
property now accumulates in the court.
This
sad situation developed after my departure from South Africa, but my
idea of having permanent funds for public institutions underwent a
change long before this difference arose. And now after considerable
experience with the many public institutions which I have managed, it
has become my firm conviction that it is not good to run public
institutions on permanent funds. A permanent fund carries in itself
the seed of the moral fall of the institution. A public institution
means an institution conducted with the approval, and from the funds,
of the public. When such an institution ceases to have public
support, it forfeits its right to exist. Institutions maintained on
permanent funds are often found to ignore public opinion, and are
frequently responsible for acts contrary to it. In our country we
experience this at every step. Some of the so-called religious trusts
have ceased to render any accounts. The trustees have become the
owners and are responsible to none. I have no doubt that the ideal is
for public institutions to live, like nature, from day to day. The
institution that fails to win public support has no right to exist as
such. The subscriptions that an institution annually receives are a
test of its popularity and the honesty of its management; and I am of
opinion that every institution should submit to that test. But let no
one misunderstand me. My remarks do not apply to the bodies which
cannot, by their very nature, be conducted without permanent
buildings. What I mean to say is that the current expenditure should
be found from subscriptions voluntarily received from year to year.
sad situation developed after my departure from South Africa, but my
idea of having permanent funds for public institutions underwent a
change long before this difference arose. And now after considerable
experience with the many public institutions which I have managed, it
has become my firm conviction that it is not good to run public
institutions on permanent funds. A permanent fund carries in itself
the seed of the moral fall of the institution. A public institution
means an institution conducted with the approval, and from the funds,
of the public. When such an institution ceases to have public
support, it forfeits its right to exist. Institutions maintained on
permanent funds are often found to ignore public opinion, and are
frequently responsible for acts contrary to it. In our country we
experience this at every step. Some of the so-called religious trusts
have ceased to render any accounts. The trustees have become the
owners and are responsible to none. I have no doubt that the ideal is
for public institutions to live, like nature, from day to day. The
institution that fails to win public support has no right to exist as
such. The subscriptions that an institution annually receives are a
test of its popularity and the honesty of its management; and I am of
opinion that every institution should submit to that test. But let no
one misunderstand me. My remarks do not apply to the bodies which
cannot, by their very nature, be conducted without permanent
buildings. What I mean to say is that the current expenditure should
be found from subscriptions voluntarily received from year to year.
These
views were confirmed during the days of the Satyagraha in South
Africa. That magnificent campaign extending over six years was
carried on without permanent funds, though lakhs of rupees were
necessary for it. I can recollect times when I did not know what
would happen the next day if no subscriptions came in. But I shall
not anticipate future events. The reader will find the opinion
expressed above amply borne out in the coming narrative.
views were confirmed during the days of the Satyagraha in South
Africa. That magnificent campaign extending over six years was
carried on without permanent funds, though lakhs of rupees were
necessary for it. I can recollect times when I did not know what
would happen the next day if no subscriptions came in. But I shall
not anticipate future events. The reader will find the opinion
expressed above amply borne out in the coming narrative.
(Source
: An
Autobiography or The Story of my Experiments with Truth by Mohandas
K. Gandhi part 3,
The Calm After the Storm)
: An
Autobiography or The Story of my Experiments with Truth by Mohandas
K. Gandhi part 3,
The Calm After the Storm)
