The grand vision of Viksit Bharat 2047 will require many priorities. But for this reflection, let me focus on one specific pillar: India’s universities and the ecosystem of research and innovation. I strongly believe that we need a very specific kind of institution of higher learning to lead us to 2047. It is not enough, in my view, to simply benchmark ourselves against the universities of the West, even though that may be a worthwhile exercise in and of itself. We need universities that will create new benchmarks, offer new strategies for generating ideas and undertaking research, and harness them for maximum social impact. It requires an appetite for risk-taking that few of us are able to muster. Bold, risky ideas are far easier to embrace if we can come together: Breaking silos between disciplines, between academia and industry, between theoretical and practical learning, between the public and private sectors, and so on. Such collaborative and shared risk-taking is critical as the needs and aspirations of billions of Indians continue to surge, and yet opportunities remain unevenly distributed.
Varsities’ Dual Responsibility
Universities, in this context, have a dual responsibility. First, they must provide degrees that remain extremely important for the ordinary Indian youth to seize an opportunity. But more importantly, they must enable fundamental questions to be posed, new frameworks to be developed, and disciplinary boundaries to be meaningfully disrupted. The aim must not only be to transfer knowledge but to generate it; not merely to train professionals, but to nurture thinkers and innovators – not for the yesterday that was safe and unknown, but the tomorrow that is waiting to be shaped. Let me elaborate on some examples.
Breaking the hierarchy between Stem and ‘non-Stem’: I was heartened to see the recently launched convergence scheme of the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF). The convergence initiative calls upon universities and institutions to establish "convergence" research Centres of Excellence (CoEs) to undertake transdisciplinary and impactful research that would “create public value at the science-society interface.’ Importantly, these centres are to be led by institutions/departments specialised in social sciences and humanities, who will reach out to peers in the STEM communities. The themes range from responsible AI to rural health to archaeology, and have been clearly cast wide to allow for unlimited possibilities.
Of course, as a social scientist, I am happy to see this approach where social impact is not an afterthought but central to the very conceptualisation of the research questions. I hope we can train a new generation of researchers through such projects where new types of integration between Stem and ‘non-Stem’ will emerge. This requires a rethinking of how we impute value to research that goes beyond the traditional metrics.
Experiential Learning
The critical importance of learning experientially has been known for a long time. But we still have some ways to go in creating a seamless integration between theoretical and experiential learning. There is also a huge difference in the opportunities our students get for learning experientially. In a country like India, we cannot continue to think of experience as coming only from expensive labs. While those are necessary, ‘experience’ can be built into university curricula in a number of ways. It must be prioritised. We would need to invest in experiential learning systematically, from schools to universities, and not just as an afterthought. Students, I have found, are actually great assessors of experiential approaches. With a good experiential pedagogy, their motivation to learn is visibly increased.
Shifting The Gaze From Human Capital To Human Potential
No doubt India@2047 will need highly efficient human capital. However, universities cannot focus instrumentally on human ‘capital’ alone: their responsibility also lies in nurturing potential, which is latent, invisible, and buried under systemic barriers waiting to be discovered. This needs a lot of ‘unlearning’ for universities: nurturing human potential is not the same as granting a degree, although the pathway to a degree, if carefully constructed, can also develop potential.
AI - Prioritising Responsibility And Ethics
By now, we are all aware that AI can enhance human capabilities in ways we cannot even imagine. But we also know that the harm it can do, if deployed without ethical considerations, can be immense. I speak here of social responsibility – where societies and governments have to determine how to prioritise the public good. Universities are ideally positioned to convene these discussions by bringing together diverse stakeholders.
What Happens If We Have Universities Built On These Four Pillars
Prioritising transdisciplinarity, prioritising experiential learning, prioritising human potential, and prioritising the social responsibility of technology, including AI? Not only can they lead the journey to a ‘developed’ India, but assume the leadership to define ‘development’ itself. For India at 2047, I audaciously hope for such universities that will establish unprecedented benchmarks for nation-building for a country 100 years young.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publication. |
