Structure:

Introduction: (up to 30 words) Explain what Technology with a Human Face is and what Gandhiji means by “The solution to fighting poverty was not mass production but production by the masses”

Body: (up to 100 words) Write about the Gandhian model of development and how/why Technology with a human face is the need of the hour.

Conclusion: (up to 30 words)  Conclude by saying that we need modern technology to enable humans to use and apply their mind and body rather than simply replace humans with machines.

Supporting Points: -

E.F. Schumacher was an economist of international repute and the author of the book titled “Small is Beautiful”: A study of economics as if people mattered in which he introduced the concept of “Technology with a Human Face”. Here Schumacher expresses his fear and concern about the inhuman nature of modern technology which is taking the world from crisis to crisis and says that a new type of technology called self-help technology is needed so that everyone including old men and children can work with their clever brain and two skilful hands with great satisfaction.

Schumacher says that the laws and principles of technology are different from those of human nature. The system of nature is based on self-balancing, self-adjusting and self-cleansing. But technology does not have any self-limit principle. As a result modern world faces three crises simultaneously. Modern technology destroys human life and Nature. Secondly non-renewable resources such as fossil fuels are running short and finally it creates pollution and global warming.

Schumacher also tries to explain Gandhiji’s saying as: Industrialisation of twenty five years could only bring illusory success because the two big problems of unemployment and poverty could not be solved and even in the developed countries unemployment problem is very serious. He says that the primary task of technology is to reduce the burden of man’s work so that he can enjoy life and relax. But modern technology is eliminating skilful, productive and creative work of human hands and brains. Modern technology is gigantic, highly complicated and needed huge capital investment. Only the rich can afford to run modern factories. These labour saving machines makes the rich richer and poor poorer and unemployment and poverty increases all over the world. Hence, machines of mass production lead to unemployment.

Karl Max, the founder of Communism and author of Das Capital had foreseen this tragedy. He said that production of too many useful things, lead to too many useless people. All this confirms the suspicion that modern technology is showing an increasingly inhuman face.

The present inhuman technology is based on mass production with high capital investment and high energy input where workers are mere slaves of work and the rich owner makes huge profit. This system should be changed and a new technology with a human face should be introduced. Instead of mass production, the new system is based on production by the masses. All people, young and old can work with their skilful hands and clever brains with first class tools in their own time and speed and then work would be great pleasure for them.

Often traditional business models focus purely on a profit motive and are missing an element of compassion. Those models can also increase inequality between the rich and the poor, the haves and the have-nots. Hence we need the Gandhian model of development. The Gandhian model is a partnership model that believes in inclusion and development with dignity where everyone is treated as equals and where everyone benefits. The extent to which we can manage this partnership will be one measure of success.