Viksit Bharat @2047 is the Indian government’s vision for the country’s development by its centenary year of 2047. Dr J Komalalakshmi explains how education will contribute.
Every human life begins with possibility. A child enters the world ready to observe, question, experience and learn. What that child eventually becomes depends not only on what is taught, but on how the child learns to think, live, make decisions, relate to others and take responsibility.
This is the thought behind the Education Flag for Viksit Bharat @2047.
About the flag
At the centre of the Flag is a child illuminated by a lamp. The child represents every learner at the beginning of a lifelong journey. The lamp represents the light of education guiding that journey towards the development of a person of vision.
But education should not stop at knowing. It is not enough to know the culture. One must apply it. Values – we must live them. Responsibility – we must practise it. Respect for nature – our actions must demonstrate it. It is not enough to celebrate humanity – we must treat human beings with dignity. This is where education becomes a way of life.
Everybody’s life lies in their own thinking. Our thoughts influence our choices, our choices influence our actions, and our actions gradually shape our lives and the world around us.
Education therefore has a responsibility not merely to fill minds with information, but to develop the ability to think independently, wisely and responsibly – and to translate that thinking into action.
The flying flag: the working of education
The flying flag represents education in motion. We can understand its elements as parts of one continuous educational process, and its movement represents the dynamic and continuing nature of education.
Knowing is the beginning. Then, learning gives knowledge depth and meaning. Thinking enables questioning, reasoning and informed decision-making – and expanding broadens our understanding beyond ourselves. Acting converts understanding into behaviour. Living develops the skills required to face relationships, challenges and responsibilities. Creating transforms knowledge and imagination into innovation and solutions. Preserving reminds us that everything we build depends upon systems of life that must be protected. Our contribution gives purpose to knowledge and ability, and accountability reminds us that every action has consequences.
Dr Komalalakshmi holding the Education flag for Viksit Bharat @2047.
A child does not simply move from ignorance to knowledge. The child grows into a human being of vision.
This transformation includes intellectual development, mental development, human values, relationships, decision-making and living skills. Education should not only prepare a person to earn a living; it should prepare a person to live.
To live means to understand oneself, live with others, face difficulties, make thoughtful choices, use freedom responsibly, respect differences, care for nature and contribute meaningfully. And these values cannot remain inside textbooks. A culture is meaningful only when it becomes visible in behaviour.
Knowing without application remains information. Values become meaningful only when they are lived.
Human potential in the age of machines
All of this becomes increasingly important in an age of powerful machines and artificial intelligence.
Human beings are creating machines capable of performing tasks that once required extraordinary expertise. This is a remarkable achievement. Yet it raises a deeper question: while we are building intelligent machines are we also developing intelligent human beings?
Machines may calculate, process, predict and assist. But human beings must decide what is meaningful, what is ethical and what is responsible.
The question is not simply whether humans can compete with machines. The deeper question is: how humans will live with machines without losing what makes us human?
Building and preserving together
The same principle applies to nature. Humanity can build extraordinary cities, industries, technologies and infrastructures. But we cannot call that development development if, in the process, we destroy ecosystems, biodiversity and the natural systems that sustain life. We must learn to build and preserve simultaneously.
So, when we create technology, we must preserve human values. When we develop industries, we must protect ecosystems. When we use natural resources, we must consider their continuity. When we create solutions, we must examine their consequences.
Competing with nature cannot be the measure of human victory. Man-made disasters and irreversible environmental destruction are not achievements of development. True progress lies in finding alternatives that allow humanity to advance while protecting the systems of life.
From learning to contribution
This is where contribution becomes central to the Education Flag. Education should not end with the question: “What do you want to become?” It should also ask: “What will you contribute?”
Contribution is not limited to great inventions or extraordinary achievements. A person can contribute through teaching, research, innovation, entrepreneurship, creativity, service, compassion, responsible technology or environmental protection.
This must be accompanied by accountability. We should not build a better life for ourselves by creating a worse life for someone else – or create convenience today by creating a burden for tomorrow. We should not call something progress if its cost is the destruction of the systems that sustain life. This is why the flying Education Flag represents a culture of contribution, application and accountability.
Education as a way of living
The vision of Viksit Bharat @2047 should not be understood only as economic growth, technological advancement or physical development. A truly developed nation must also develop the quality of its human beings – and a developed society needs people who can think independently, respect others, use technology wisely, preserve nature, create responsibly and contribute meaningfully. Most importantly, they must apply what they have learned.
When responsible behaviour is practised repeatedly, it becomes a habit. When good habits become collective, they become culture.
In this way, education can transform not only individuals but society itself.
