Page 1 : A.R.DESAI(1915-1994)., A.R.Desai has a special place among Indian Sociologists. He, was a former member of political parties and was directly, involved in politics. Desai was deeply influenced by Marxism and, therefore became involved in marxist politics during his college, days. While in Baroda, he became a member of the Communist, Party,but later resigned from it. After that, Desai was involved, with various kinds of Marxist political groups,for most part of his, life. Desai was more popular outside Indian Sociology, than, within it, since, Marxism was not much influential in Indian, Sociology. However, Desai received many honours and became, the president of the Indian Sociological Society, even though he, was an unusual figure in Indian Sociology as compared to the, others., LIFE SKETCH AND WRITINGS, Akshay Ramanlal Desai,(A.R.Desai) was born in 1915, in a middle, class family.His father was a civil servant in the Baroda state. His, father was also a well-known novelist and had the good will of, both- the Socialists and the Nationalists. Desai, had lost his, mother at an early age,hence,he was brought up by his father., As his father was in a transferable job, he had to move from, place to place, along with him. Desai had his early education at, Baroda and in Surat. Later he joined the department of Sociology, at the Bombay University and did his, post-graduation under, the guidance of Ghurye,in 1946. His Ph.D. dissertation was, published in 1948 as the book- ' Social Background of Indian, Nationalism'. It is also his best known work. In this book, he has, projected a marxian analysis of the Indian nationalism. He also, wrote about the conditions of British colonialism and the existing, economic processes and divisions, in this book. This book, Desai's became very popular and had numerous reprints. In, 1951, he joined the faculty of the department of Sociology at

Page 2 : Bombay university, and was appointed as Professor and Head of, the Department in 1967., Desai remained a member of the revolutionary Socialist Party, from 1953 to 1981. He also studied and wrote on other topics, such as Rural Sociology, modernisation, forms of state and, human rights etc.A.R.Desai died on November 12,1994., HIS MAJOR WORKS ARE AS FOLLOWS:, 'Social Background of Indian Nationalism' (1948),, 'Rural Transition in India'(1961),, 'State and Society in Indian: Essays in Dissent'(1975), 'Peasant Struggles in India'(1979),, 'Agrarian Struggles in Indian after Independence'(1986), ■State and Society. etc.., A.R.DESAI.ON THE STATE., Desai was keenly interested in studying the modern capitalist, state and when he finally did study it, it was from a Marxism, perspective. Desai did a detailed study of the meaning and, aspects of a welfare state, from all the sociological literature that, was available to him. In an essay written by him, 'The Myth of the, Welfare State', Desai has pointed to the various shortcomings of, the welfare state., FEATURES OF WELFARE STATE., According to Desai following are the special features of the, welfare state:, 1.POSITIVE STATE., The welfare state is a positive state. It is all the time involved in, the state affairs. It plans and implements new policies for the, betterment of all. Most of the policies are made by keeping the, welfare of all in, mind. It is also a positive state, in the sense, that it is open to all, new ideas and methods by which one can achieve progress for, , ▪️, ▪️, ▪️, ▪️, ▪️

Page 3 : all and in every spear. The prime goal is the welfare and, betterment of all., 2.DEMOCRATIC, STATE., The welfare state is a democratic state. A Welfare state can exist, only in democratic conditions, since, democracy is an essential, condition for the formation of a welfare state. Democratic, institutions have always been 0⁰0⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰3⁰⁰⁰⁰⁸considered as important, feature of a welfare state. Democracy prospects the rights of the, people and provides them equal opportunities, hence, it is, important for a welfare state to have a democratic way of life., 3.MIXED ECONOMY., The welfare state is characterised by mixed economy. A mixed, economy, according to him, means where private and publically, owned enterprises co- exist. A welfare state encourages, capitalist market. It also encourages public investment in, industry and other fields. The private industry takes over the, consumer goods sector and the state looks after the basic goods, and social infrastructure., One can test whether state is a welfare state or not, on the basis, of following criteria:, 1.FREEDOM., It is a criteria of the welfare state to provide freedom and, security to all its citizens. This freedom could be freedom from, poverty and social discrimination for all and it could truly result, in welfare of all those who live within that state., 2.EQUALITY., The provision of equality for all, is also an important criteria of a, welfare state. It is the prime task of a welfare state to remove any, kind of inequalities at the economic level. This can be done by, distributing the income in such a manner so that, the, concerntration of wealth in the hands of few, is not possible.

Page 4 : 3.COMMUNITY NEEDS, Keeping the community needs in mind, is also a criteria of the, welfare state. This is done by using the capitalist profit for the, fulfilment of the needs of the community as a whole. This way the, profit does not get vested in the hands of few but is used for, general welfare., 4.STABLE, DEVELOPMENT., Another important criteria of a welfare state is to provide stable, development, in the state, which is not affected by the economic, conditions, such as economic booms and depressions. Stable, development can be achieved by making provisions for, employment for all. Having stated these criterias of a welfare, state, A.R.Desai has concluded that welfare States are still in, myth, as non of so called welfare States qualify the same. They, ate rather far from it. Desai has criticised the existing concept of, welfare state from a Marxist and Socialist point of view. For him,, a welfare state is that state, which does much more for its, citizens, than they are doing so.