E-Book - Mahatma Gandhi

215 Contextualising Gandhian ThoughtThese conditions put a check on the State as well as theindividual. Trusteeship thus cannot be regarded as heritable oralienable. Nor can trusteeship lead to the generation oraccentuation of inequality of wealth or disparities in income.The Trustee will live and work under the gaze of thebeneficiaries as well as the State. He is accountable to them. Ifhe fails to live up to his commitments, and the rigorous code ofTrusteeship, there are two remedies-one, what Gandhidescribed as the sovereign remedy, satyagraha; and the other,action by the State.There are two widely prevalent misconceptions aboutTrusteeship that have to be discussed here. One is that Gandhi'sconcept of trusteeship was meant only for those who ownedproperty and riches; and the other is that the concept wasdesigned to deal with the problems created by the ownership ofmaterial possessions that are physically external. Both thesehave been denied and contradicted by Gandhi himself.Gandhi wanted the rich to hold their property andpossessions as Trustee. But he did not tire of asserting thatlabour too was power. 73 Capital cannot fructify withoutlabour. 74 The power of labour lay in its unity. When labour isunited and determined, it can be more powerful than capital. 75Its power can indeed be frightening. Both labour and capitalhave therefore to hold their power in trust. There was nothingunilateral about the theory of trusteeship. 76 It is a perfectlymutual affair—“Capital and labour will be mutual trustees, andboth will be trustees of consumers. 77The very fact that Gandhi advocated mutual trusteeshipor trusteeship of both labour and capital should prove (1) thatGandhi was not offering Trusteeship as a camouflage for thecontinuance of the power and prerogatives of capital; that he, in