SSC Typing Practice Passage: The Dandi March of 1930

In the early months of 1930, Mahatma Gandhi chose an unusual symbol for the next stage of India's struggle for freedom: common salt. Under British law, the government held a monopoly over the making and sale of salt, and a tax was charged on it. Salt was needed by every household, rich or poor, so the tax fell most heavily on those who could least afford it. By choosing salt, Gandhi found an issue that every Indian could understand.

On 12 March 1930, Gandhi set out from the Sabarmati Ashram near Ahmedabad with seventy-eight chosen followers. They walked for twenty-four days, covering about 240 miles through the villages of Gujarat. Along the way, Gandhi addressed large gatherings, urged people to give up foreign cloth and asked village officials to resign from their posts. Newspapers in India and abroad followed the march closely, and the number of people walking with him grew day by day.

On 6 April 1930, after reaching the coastal village of Dandi, Gandhi picked up a handful of salt from the shore, breaking the salt law. This simple act was the signal for the Civil Disobedience Movement to begin across the country. People made salt on beaches, boycotted foreign goods, refused to pay certain taxes and picketed shops selling liquor. Women took part in large numbers, many of them stepping out of their homes for a public cause for the first time.

The government responded with force. Tens of thousands of people were arrested, including Gandhi himself. At Dharasana, peaceful volunteers who marched towards the salt works were beaten with lathis, and reports of their courage and discipline reached readers around the world. The movement spread to the North-West Frontier, where Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan led the Khudai Khidmatgars, and to many other regions.

The Dandi March did not bring independence at once, but it changed the character of the national movement. It showed that non-violent resistance could involve ordinary people on a massive scale and could draw the attention of the world to India's demand for self-rule. It also gave people a sense of their own strength.

Today, the route of the march is remembered with memorials and an annual walk. The story of a handful of salt continues to remind us that a simple act, done with courage and conviction, can move an entire nation.