Abstract

Author(s): Pritam Gurey

The central theme of Tagore’s philosophy of life was concerned with the creation of a synthetic and harmonious way of living which he tried to bring back to the rural life through self-reliance and co-operation among all sections of people through his rural reconstruction programme. Tagore wanted to organize the villages so that the villages could supply all their needs on cooperative basis. The article highlights Tagore’s concern and activity for village upliftment by the process of rural reconstruction. Youth and education both were always a concern for Gurudeva Rabindranath Tagore in his programme. Brati-Balaka Samgathana (Youth Organization) was pioneered by Mr. Elmhirst under the vision of Tagore. Chalantika - the mobile library first one of its kind was started by Tagore to reach the mass and disseminate information. The paper shows the model of rural reconstruction for community development and how dissemination of information could be possible through rural extension programmes, especially through Brati-Balaka Samgathana (at present ‘Brati dal’) and rural library services. Finally, the paper shows the area for social research and a model can be designed with the information provided in this article keeping in mind Tagore’s model towards rural reconstruction.