Trusteeship is a socio-economic philosophy that was propounded by Mahatma
Gandhi. Trusteeship, as applicable to the corporate world, refers to the act of holding and managing resources on behalf of the stakeholders of the firm. “What’s new about that, one may !uery. Gi"en that the traditional take on wealth has almost always been tilted towards owners of corporations, this concept brings in an element of e!uity, by placing other stakeholders such as employees, customers and society on the same rung as large and small shareholders. The idea is that all wealth, including human, financial and technological resources, belongs to society and the rewards accruing from their use must re"ert to society at large. The principles of trusteeship can be traced to the concept of collecti"e endea"our and community li"ing. #riefly, these are$ %esources must be held and utilised for the benefit of society. society. Managers are the trustees of the stakeholders and must work towards towards optimi&ing optimi&ing stakeholder stakeholder "alue, "alue, not merely maximising shareholder value . The small in"estor has as much a say in decisions as the large in"estor. the o"erall approach is towards the macro and the long-term perspecti"e, rather than the shortterm, micro perspecti"e which is often geared e'clusi"ely to suit the shareholder and top management. (t first sight, this seemingly idealistic concept in"ariably rais raises es a few few prot protes ests ts.. “The “The owne owner) r)ss must must be rewa reward rded ed for for beari bearing ng risk riskss and and supplying e'pertise$ *efinitely. #ut the reward must be in proportion to the skills and e'pertise supplied.
The Gandhian +hilosophy of wealth management is based on the principal that a wealthy man does not truly ha"e the right to hoard wealth solely for the self the only right he has is that to an honorable li"elihood. Gandhian +hilosophy of wealth management is based on the er"odaya’ principles of Truth, /on-0iolence and Trust Trustees eeship hip wherei wherein n class class harmon harmony y betwee between n labour labour and manage managemen mentt reigns reigns supreme. supreme. (ccording (ccording to Gandhi1i, Gandhi1i, managers managers and proprietors proprietors of business business firms are
only the trustees of wealth of society. The idea of trusteeship ad"ocated by Gandhi1i, is based on and has its origin in the #haga"ed Gita-in the principles of aparigraha’ 2non-possession3 and ambhawa’ 2e!ualism3 which were ardently followed by Mahatma Gandhi.
Gandhi belie"ed that the rich people could be
persuaded to part with their wealth to help the poor. +utting it in Gandhi1i4s words 5upposing 6 ha"e come by a fair amount of wealth 7 either by way of legacy, or by means of trade and industry 7 6 must know that all that wealth does not belong to me what belongs to me is the right to an honourable li"elihood, no better than that en1oyed by millions of others. The rest of my wealth belongs to the community and must be used for the welfare of the community.5
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Gandhi1i along with his
followers, after their release from the prison formulated a 5simple5 and a 5practical5 formula where Trusteeship was e'plained. ;n the social plane, this principle implied that the wealthy could not 1ustly claim their possessions to be theirs entirely. The reason was that they could not accumulate their wealth without the labour and cooperation of workers and the poorer sections of society. . ?. @. B.
=ommon Good Welfare for others /on "iolence Aconomic A!uity Cindness
6nherent in this philosophy are entrenched solutions to many of the challenges of the >9st century$
ustainable consumption 7 consume what is enough for your needs without doing harm to others
Dtili&ation of natural resources in a sustainable way 7 you are a trustee and you need to take care of what has been freely pro"ided by nature
*ignity of labor and e!uitable distribution of wealth 7 wealth alone is not the answer, to feel happy you need to ensure that the people who work for you and society at large is taken care of
ustainable li"elihoods 7 and not charity 7 are a key to ensuring human dignity, growth and satisfaction
+rinciple of trusteeship Reduce Inequalities : This concept tries to reduce ine!ualities. 6t tries to reduce
the gap between the rich and poor. 6t tries to reduce e'ploitation. Change of Attitude of Businessmen : (ccording to Mahatma Gandhi,
businessmen should change their attitude. They ha"e no morale right to accumulate unlimited wealth while most of their countrymen li"e in po"erty and misery. Aach businessman should take enough wealth to li"e honourably.
Social Pressure : +eople must put social pressure on businessmen to follow the
principle of trusteeship. They should boycott 2not purchase3 the products of those who do not practice trusteeship. Legal Pressure : 6f "oluntary measures and social pressure do not work, legal
pressure must be put on the businessmen to follow the principle of trusteeship. Socialism : This concept gi"es more importance to socialism. That is, the society
is gi"en much more importance than an indi"idual. o, the wealth of the society should be distributed e!uitably to all its members. Consider Social Needs : #usinessmen should produce only those goods and
ser"ices which are useful for all members of the society. They should not produce goods and ser"ices, which are used only by few indi"iduals. Equal distriution of !ealth : (ccording to Gandhi1i, all the wealth of the society
should be distributed e!uitably. There should not be concentration of wealth in few hands. Earn mone" " #ard !or$ : ( person should earn his li"ing by doing hard work.
Aarning money without doing hard work is 1ust like stealing. No Right to Pri%ate &!nership $ This concept does not gi"e the right to pri"ate
ownership e'cept when it is necessary. 'o%ernment Regulation : The Go"ernment should regulate trusteeship. /o
6ndi"idual should be allowed to use his wealth for selfish satisfaction or against the interest of society. Eimitations of +rinciples of Trusteeship
=ritical A"aluation ) Eimitations ) (pplicability of the +rinciples of Trusteeship is highlighted in following important points $9. This concept is not rele"ant in today4s competiti"e business world because e"ery businessman tries to earn ma'imum profits and accumulate huge wealth. >. 6t demoti"ates the hardworking businessmen. The businessmen will loss their creati"ity, and they will become la&y. This will slow down the economic de"elopment of the country. ?. This concept is based on the concept of ocialism.
