Indian economic thought with special emphasis on Gandhian influence

The decade of 1960's has been aptly described by U. Thant, Secretary-General of United Nations, as the "Development Decade." During this period, prolific research was undertaken in the study of the problems of developing countries."1" India, with her experiment in democratic planning, offered one of the most compelling case studies for students of economic development. The purpose of this study is to explore major trends in Indian economic thought as they relate to the nature of Indian economic development policies. The basic argument of this study is that the history of Indian economic thought is the history of Indian economic development. This thesis is based on the institutionalist hypothesis that economic theory evolves within a non-economic matrix and is colored by it. Since the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi has dominated contemporary Indian social policy, the problem posed by the thesis is to apply the institutionalist hypothesis to an interpretation of Gandhian views on the economic development of India; and to demonstrate the influence of Gandhian thought on Indian development planning and policies.