Lakshmi Chand Jain (1925-2010), or Lakshmibhai as we called him, was known for his many achievements: as a Member of the erstwhile Planning Commission he championed decentralised planning; as India’s High Commissioner to South Africa he pioneered what we now call South-South cooperation between developing countries; and, as a member of the World Commission on Dams he sought to balance development needs with the needs of displaced citizens and silent mother nature. A recipient of the Magsaysay award for nurturing local initiative, Lakshmibhai was also awarded the Padma Vibhushan posthumously, which his family declined in keeping with his philosophy of maintaining a distance from state honours. Sketch of L.C Jain by Mihir Bhatt.What Lakshmibhai is less known for is his role in shaping relief and rehabilitation in the wake of India’s biggest humanitarian crisis, namely Partition, and his immense contribution in shaping responses to civil conflicts and natural disasters. As India details its humanitarian and disaster risk reduction pathways in the run-up to a century of independence, it is important to make sure that a developed India, or Viksit Bharat, is simultaneously a secure, disaster risk-protected India, or Surakshit Bharat. And it is here that the foundation put in place by Lakshmibhai is of lasting significance. Lakshmibhai grew up in Delhi in a family of Gandhian freedom fighters. As a young man engaged in the Quit India movement in 1942, he was aware of the dedication and sacrifice that was needed of all Indians to win independence from British rule. In 1947, as India achieved independence, he believed that a decentralised economy built through village industries, cooperatives, and grassroots action was the most important way to build a new India which was true to its freedom struggle, its citizens, and its emerging needs. Lakshmibhai’s career began with the resettling of Partition refugees, victims of an inhuman division of India. Instead of depending on handouts from the government, Lakshmibhai, under Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, mobilised the refugees of Kingsway Camp in Delhi to take their futures into their own hands by building the community they wished to live in, and after getting immediate relief, earning their livelihoods at their own pace and initiative through crafts and small-scale manufacturing. This early training in turning a humanitarian crisis into an opportunity to build a successful, self-reliant community of newly free citizens was the basis of his later success in turning a conflict into an opportunity to heal and disasters into steps towards development. Pic 3 Women refugees at the Kingsway camp busy in sewing and knitting, September 1947. Photo:Wikimedia Commons/Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India, Public domain.He established cooperatives, nurtured handloom as a younger sister to khadi, providing a vibrant example of how the emerging economy of Independent India could be shaped not top-down, from the state to the citizens, but bottom-up by the citizens themselves.Lakshmibhai’s career spanned over six decades, an entire lifetime during which he built institutions, big and small, and engaged deeply – directly and indirectly – with thousands of local organisations, to promote social and economic development in India. He was a key figure in the establishment of several important organisations, including the Indian Cooperative Union, the All-India Handicrafts Board, the Cottage Industries Emporium, the Intermediate Technology Development Group (known as Practical Action now) and the National Council of Applied Economic Research, to name a few. He was also a member of India’s Planning Commission where, as mentioned earlier, he played an important role in incorporating small-scale industries in national development plans, balancing grassroots-led initiatives with state-led growth of the rural economy, and decentralised district planning.For Lakshmibhai, a humanitarian crisis was an opportunity to restore dignity, get justice, and regain one’s sense of empowerment. His work focused on four major themes that wove through all his ideas, initiatives, and institution building. These ideas are of great interest to the global changes underway in the humanitarian system, such as the terms of resetting relief or making recovery that is locally owned by affected people. Published by Concept Publishing Company, 1996A pioneer of the cooperative movement in India, Lakshmibhai believed that cooperatives were a powerful tool for empowering refugees and other marginalised communities, and for promoting their economic development. He strongly believed that it was possible to build something positive even during a time of disarray as prevailed following Partition. India moved to top-down, planned heavy industry development. This move was in conflict with existing informal ways of rural traditional production. To find a creative way ahead, he developed an economic plan for cooperation among the smallest and dispersed economic actors such as small farmers, artisans, dairy farmers, fruit growers and fisher folk. He reconciled top-down industrial planning with bottom-up traditional economic activities by conceptualising a synergy between the two. Lakshmibhai also worked extensively on rural development, advocating policies and programmes that would benefit rural communities and promote sustainable development. He did that not only as a member of India’s Planning Commission but also as a champion of local district planning in Kerala, Karnataka, and later in many other states of India, especially in the North-East India. His vision made architects and city planners like us view the cities of India from a rural perspective. He felt that the role of cities was not to be engines of exploitation of villages but to become their partners, or siblings, with a nurturing give-and-take relationship. Published by Navajivan Trust, 2020Another area in which Lakshmibhai played a crucial role was in shaping India’s disaster management policies and programmes, emphasising the importance of community-based approaches and the leadership of local panchayats in disaster preparedness and public health. It was a perspective from which I benefited in my work at the All India Disaster Mitigation Institute (AIDMI). That perspective is of urgent relevance to practitioners in India. His approach, moulded by his work with post-Partition refugees, evolved to include those who had suffered the impact of repeated floods (in Assam), ongoing conflicts (in the north-eastern states), or chronic droughts (in Rajasthan and Kalahandi). Significantly, throughout his life, Lakshmibhai championed social justice, advocating for the rights of marginalised communities, including Dalits, women, migrants, and minorities. He championed their cause not only in development projects but also during times of political crises as in Assam where he helped negotiate the landmark Assam Accord. He constantly emphasised that there could be no peace without justice and that justice was not justice if it did not lead to lasting peace.For humanitarian workers in India, whether in civil society, CSR departments or district relief operations or beyond, Lakshmibhai’s life and work offer valuable lessons. He showed that disasters are not only opportunities for humanitarian intervention but also opportunities to rebuild society collectively, more fairly, and more democratically. When there is leadership from the grassroots – women, adivasis, Dalits, minorities, migrants, and others – their voices are effectively heard, and they get a fair representation.Lakshmibhai’s dedication to social change and his unwavering commitment to the values of social justice in action, with equality as a starting point for economic activities, and democracy in our local institutions, are an inspiration to every generation of humanitarian workers. Relief is not relief if it does not bring social change for the better, he once said to our team at AIDMI, when the team was setting out to respond to the tsunami-affected coastal area communities in Tamil Nadu and Kerala in 2004.Published by SAGE Publications, 1986The approaches to development that Lakshmibhai pioneered, including the use of cooperatives and community-based initiatives, work equally during a humanitarian crisis. Cooperatives make recovery better and last long. Community initiatives make relief timely, appropriate, and effective. But Lakshmibhai was cautious. When AIDMI organized its first training of humanitarian relief standards in 2001 – internationally known as Sphere Standards — that put the rights of victims at the centre of all relief, to augment the government’s existing relief code, Lakshmibhai said, “Let us not invent disasters. If the affected people can manage the loss with solidarity and mutual aid, why impose relief standards?”Lakshmibhai’s work demonstrates the importance of influencing policy and shaping development agendas, highlighting the critical role that humanitarian workers can play in shaping the future of their communities. When AIDMI started its work in Kashmir at the request of the Uri earthquake victims in year 2005, he pointed out that after a disaster we do not offer relief but a future to the affected people, and added that the impact of providing work and livelihoods was more far-reaching than providing food and water after a disaster. He was happy to see AIDMI give a first-ever cash grant for livelihood recovery to the 1998 Kandla cyclone victims in Gujarat. He pointed out that money gives no relief, but where markets function even after a disaster, money as cash transfer is a fast and flexible relief.Through cooperatives, whether of dairy farmers, vegetable producers, craftspeople or those engaged in domestic chores, and community institutions such as Panchyats, Lakshmibhai underlined that lasting change begins when citizens plan and organise themselves in shaping their future, such as Amul, SEWA, Dastkar, and many more. His commitment to social change as part of humanitarian action; innovative approaches to disaster risk reduction; policy influence to localise decisions and release flow of funds; and his legacy of building humanitarian commons, makes him a role model for all who are working towards a more just and equitable humanitarian system in India. He exemplified the truth that policy influence, grassroots action, and moral courage must go hand in hand in the quest for humanitarian justice for all Indians. The path he laid beckons us all more urgently in our uncertain times. Mihir R. Bhatt, architect and planner, leads All India Disaster Mitigation Institute, and can be reached at mihir@aidmi.org.