Editorial 1: Atmanirbharta for New India
Context:
- With the changing global economic scenario and self-reliance of economic growth, Indian Prime Minister urge for self-reliance(Atmanirbhar) and self-sufficiency of Indian economy
- To get a comprehensive understanding of Atmanirbhar, the thinking and the processes and programmes associated with it one needs to appreciate the idea, not only from the current context but also from a historical and civilisational lens.
historical underpinnings:
- India has historically been known for innovation and intellectual accomplishments in governance, spiritual thought, education, healthcare, industry, trade and several other fields.
- Centuries of colonisation and invasions created a sense of inferiority amongst people in the country, led to intellectual stagnation and fostered a slavish mentality amongst Indians at the time of Independence.
- When the British left Indian soil, they did not just leave us with political freedom. A large section of Indians continued to think and behave like the subjects of a benign crown.
- For most Indians of that generation, becoming a citizen was a novelty and demanded a change in beliefs, values, and practices
Role of State in realising the self-reliance
- It is easy to be dependent on a benevolent state, becoming a free thinker and operating with the spirit of citizenship requires conviction, discipline, determined optimism and hard work.
- This is possible only when there is an ecosystem that promotes self-respect and self-belief.
- Unfortunately, for several decades after Independence, the ecosystem in the country did not nurture adequately the idea of engaged citizenship and people continued to look at the state as the “provider”, leaving a large section of Indians feeling unsure about their capabilities. This is no longer the dominant narrative today.
- Today, a generation of young people are qualified, competent, and confident in deciding not just their future but that of the nation as well.
- This needs to be seen in the background of how India’s position in the global comity of nations has been enhanced over the last few years
- This visibility and respect for India and what Indians are capable of must be seen as an outcome of the several visits PM Modi has undertaken to different parts of the world. Whether it is
- evacuating Indians from conflict zones, or
- the Vande Bharat missions,
- from taking over the G20 presidency to a seat at the UNSC,
- we can see how the ecosystem has been spreading the feeling of pride and self-sufficiency.
There is need for changing the mindset to achieve self-reliance
- Moving towards self-reliance from the historical dependencies of the past several decades is more than just a paradigm shift.
- It needs to change the mindset of not just citizens, but also of the political class and the bureaucracy.
- Programmes like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Startup India, Standup India, Yoga Day celebrations and Ayushman Bharat not only reinforced the reasoning that Indians must look to themselves for making the country clean, healthy and economically independent, but they also boosted national pride.
- These programmes nurtured Atmanirbharata in their own ways.
Active participation of people is also equally important for realising the goal of self sufficiency
- No nation can progress without engaging its citizens in the development process. Citizenship is not just about participating in the electoral process.
- It is also about enlightening oneself with information, engaging with the state and its agencies and operating with a sense of empowerment.
- This is possible only when the government and prevailing political leadership play a catalytic role and create spaces for citizens to confidently operate.
- The last few years have seen a growing movement towards getting people to participate in different aspects of governance. Whether it is the MyGov platform, the Prime Minister seeking inputs from the people for his annual Independence Day speech, or the finance minister asking for suggestions from the citizens for the annual budget
- one can see the openness and desire to reduce information and power asymmetries. From the growing trust in the government and its several agencies to identifying persons for the Padma awards, one can see the feeling of Atmanirbharata seep through the collective consciousness of the masses.
- All this points to a significant political development, the evolution of Indians from being subjects to citizens.
Conclusion:
- Today the world is seeking answers to myriad problems — social, political, economic, environmental, international relations, global trade, healthcare, education, skiing.
- The Atmanirbhar experiment and the lessons that India is learning today as a nation can help usher in a new model of sustainable development.
- India’s Atmanirbhar programme is not just about India’s progress or development. It has much to do about humanity.
- Once a nation like India, with all its challenges, learns to unleash the potential of its citizenry and share this knowledge with the rest of the world, several other nations will emulate it and follow the path of peace and progress world.
- A world where equity, fairness, justice, dignity and citizen engagement are no longer fashion statements, but a way of life
Editorial 2: Vishwa guru to Shreshta Shishya: An education system that fosters fraternity and humility
Context:
- Maria Montessori said, “establishing lasting peace is the work of education; all politics can do is to keep us out of war”.
- The need for education to play an effective role in nurturing “cultures of peace” is internationally acknowledged.
- Change, complexity, fragility and uncertainty define the world today, with Covid reminding us of the need for leveraging cooperation, collective action and an ethic of care for a sustainable planet.
Role of Value-based education in promoting unity in diversity:
- The Preamble of our Constitution foregrounds justice, liberty, equality and fraternity as interlinked foundational principles. The one value, however, that has received the least attention both in policy and legislation is fraternity. It is time to address that lacuna, with education playing a decisive role.
- As, In multi-ethnic, multi-religious societies like India, which are fractured along the lines of class, caste, region, religion and gender, the transformative potential of education to play a peace-sustaining role faces challenges.
- Populism and jingoism the world over have deepened divisions, triggered sectarian violence and reinforced prejudices.
- Indian education must set itself the task to provide effective antidotes to the “militarisation” of the mind and proactively nurture the canvas of coexistence. Critical thinking, dialogue, civic participation, community engagement and non-violent action are integral to this moment.
- At the global level, In 1995, UNESCO endorsed a declaration on the Integrated Framework of Action on Education for peace, human rights and democracy.
- It was the first international instrument that established the link between the practice of democracy and learning about diversity and “the wealth of cultural identities”
New National Curriculum Framework (NCF) should be including critical thinking for wholistic development of student which promote global peace and harmony
- Education can provide the conceptual alphabets for a vocabulary of peace, only through the consistent interrogation of pedagogical frames that overtly or even subliminally transmit prejudice and intolerance.
- The implementation of the new National Curriculum Framework (NCF) must provide the context to not only mould “global citizens” but also “intelligent patriots” with the courage to hold up the mirror and question the shibboleths we live by.
- Critical thinking, beyond “proscribed texts” and “prescribed” curricula, is needed to propel education towards nourishing predispositions and an inclination for peace in societies.
- Education must be open to the not-always harmonious reverberations of learning. The pluriverse of the global Learning Commons can potentially arrest our cartographic anxieties and processes of “othering”.
- Its sheer diversity can inure education from proselytising tendencies, sectarian impulses and partisan agendas. (The contestations over the writing of history are all too familiar to us).
- The contributions of an Aryabhata, Buddha, Copernicus, Galileo, Al-Zahrawi, Descartes, Newton, Marx and Einstein were built on paradigm shifts that disrupted settled comfort zones. The oft-invoked Nalanda tradition too excelled in pushing the Sutras to evoke new voices through reasoned debate — from “safe spaces” to “brave spaces”
Emphasis on self-knowledge with the recognition of the interconnectedness of all sentient beings and context sensitivity has been integral to our traditions of learning:
- Civic responsibility in an interdependent world requires perspectives on how every considered action can potentially impact multiple lives across time and geography. This to me appears as fundamental to the spirit of “Vasudhaiva kutumbakam”.
- I dream of an India where institutes of learning will cease to be domesticating spaces and will reconstruct themselves as transformative by ensuring the representation for women
- They ensure substantive equality to counter the violence and exclusions of class, caste and patriarchy.
- For instance, although women constitute an unprecedented 49.3 per cent in the higher education space in India, they still face several obstacles to the full and equal participation guaranteed by our Constitution
Conclusion
- Inculcating this basic principle in value based education system will lead to
- spirit of sa vidya ya vimuktaye (that alone is knowledge which leads to liberation) into its educational initiatives in which there will be no place for all forms of discrimination.
- cultivate the intellect and also integrate body, mind and spirit to balance our ecological, ethical, emotional, creative and spiritual needs emphasising what makes us human — not merely our global competitiveness.
- Therefore, India will evolve from the certitudes of a Vishwaguru to the resilience of a “Shreshta Shishya”, with the humility of the eternal seeker, ever learning, ever flowing and India will provide for ethical and intellectual leadership in every field of human endeavour.