The concept of a 'Four Pillar State' (Chaukhamba Raj), with power divided among the village, district, province and centre, was put forward by:

The concept of a "Four Pillar State" (Chaukhamba Raj) was put forward by the socialist leader Dr Ram Manohar Lohia.

About the Four Pillar State:

• Lohia believed that political power should not be concentrated in the central government, but should be decentralised.
• He proposed that power should be divided among four levels (pillars) of government: the village, the district, the province (state) and the centre.
• Each level would have real powers and functions, including in administration, planning and finance.
• In particular, he wanted the district to become an important unit of self-government, free from the control of the district magistracy (the collector), which he saw as a remnant of colonial rule.
• He also spoke of a fifth pillar, a world government, in the future.
• He believed that decentralisation would bring democracy closer to the people and make government more responsive.

About Ram Manohar Lohia:

• He was born on 23 March 1910 at Akbarpur, in present-day Uttar Pradesh.
• He studied in Calcutta and in Berlin, where he obtained a PhD in economics.
• He was a founder member of the Congress Socialist Party (1934).
• During the Quit India Movement, he worked underground and ran a secret radio station along with Usha Mehta.
• He was imprisoned in the Lahore Fort, where he was tortured.
• He played an important role in the liberation movement in Goa (1946).

After Independence:

• He led the Socialist Party, and was a strong critic of the Congress and Nehru.
• He promoted "anti-Congressism" and the unity of opposition parties.
• He advocated the use of Hindi and Indian languages instead of English.
• He died on 12 October 1967.

Why not the other options?

JP, M. N. Roy and Gandhi had other ideas of decentralisation (such as Gram Swaraj).