Gandhi's 'Gram Rajya' unrealistic in current age, says Tharoor

The minister says that the current world is of globalisation and increasing communication

Mahatma Gandhi's concept of a village-centric development model was an "unrealistic" goal in the current age of globalisation and communication, Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor said today.

"There is something which is not realistic about Gram Rajya. Mahatma Gandhi spoke about Gram Rajya, which means the village will itself produce all resources it needs," he said, delivering the keynote address at 'Pan-IIM world management conference' here.

"The idea of autonomous village does not hold any realistic view in our lifetime," he noted, adding the current world is of globalisation and increasing communication.

Union HRD Minister MM Pallam Raju inaugurated the conference which is being attended by 250 delegates.

Maintaining that much of the prevailing corruption stems from politicians and politics, Tharoor said ethics can act as an antidote to graft and help in cleansing the system.

The UN official-turned-MP emphasised on putting in place a robust institutional framework to ensure educational institutions are not shutdown because they have not paid bribe to politicians.