Mahatma Gandhi as a visionary of India had a very clear perception of India’s villages, including rural and tribal society. He had an emphatic assertion that India lives in villages not in towns, in huts not in palaces. He held this conviction by saying that if villages perish, India will perish soon. He strongly believed that progress of the country lies in the development of the majority of its rural villages; develop rural economy, industry and rural skills. He also advocated that village is the central place in any economic development programme. Similarly, Gandhi also emphasized about the welfare of the Adivasis, i.e. tribal people. They have been segregated from the mainstream for many generations. Social scientists of repute like Varrier Elwin, Nirmal Kumar Bose, Thakkar Bappa and many others developed their concepts and journey under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi. Recently India celebrated 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, whose philosophy, ideas and vision on tribal and rural development are still meaningful for nation-building. Against this backdrop, papers are incorporated in the present volume on Gandhian ideas and philosophy pivoted around tribes and rural society with special emphasis on developmental aspects. Contributors from several disciplines and activists have tried to highlight Gandhian vision on tribal and rural society and development on one hand and relevance of Gandhian philosophy in contemporary Indian nation-building on the other hand. CONTENTS 1. Introduction / Tilak Bagchi 2. Gandhian Model of Development and His Views on Modernity and Post-modernity in India / L. Sharma 3. Mahatma Gandhi: A Great Visionary Leader / P. Bhatnagar 4. Gandhi on Protest and Reconstruction of Society / K. Bhargava and P.C. Jain 5. Gandhi’s Rural Development Perspective: Present Day Scenario in Rural and Tribal Areas of India / Debashis Debnath 6. Mahatma Gandhi and Tribes of India / R.P. Mitra 7. Impact of Gandhi on Tribes of India: The Subliminal, Direct and Coordinate Influences / Nishant Gokhale 8. Gandhian Model of Development and Rights of the Tribes in India / H.S. Chandalia 9. Gandhian Concept of Rural Development / Brij Kishore Sharma 10. Gandhian Vision on Rural-Tribal Development and its Importance on Swachh Bharat Movement / Kumar Sahani 11. Gandhian Philosophy in the Indian Economics and Rural Milieu / M. Sinha Roy 12. Renewing Gandhi’s Thoughts on Rural Entrepreneurship Development: Reference to Possibilities of Mushroom Farming in India / Arabinda Mitra, Pijush K. Ghosh and Palash C. Coomar 13. Role of Gandhian Organizations in Rural Reconstruction: A Case Study of Paschim Medinipur District in West Bengal / Tuhin Kanti Das 14. Perspective on Rural Development / Anju Beniwal 15. Relevance of Gandhi’s Educational Thoughts in the Present Times / Shruti Tandon 16. Gandhi as People’s Leader in National Movement / Pritish Chaudhuri About the Editor: Tilak Bagchi obtained MSc and PhD degree in Anthropology from University of Calcutta. He retired from the Anthropological Survey of India. Previously he worked as Senior Research Fellow (ICAR) and Research Officer (ICMR Project) in the All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health and Assistant Director in the Directorate of Census Operations, West Bengal under Office of the Registrar General, New Delhi (on deputation). He is the author/ co-author/editor/co-editor of eight books, about 65 research articles and 25 book reviews. He received prestigious Presidential Silver Medal and Citation for his outstanding contribution during 2011 Census. He has participated in several national and international seminars, contributed papers in those seminars and organized several exhibitions and TSP programmes on behalf of the Anthropological Survey of India.