The Case of the Amrit Mahotsav Celebrations

Authored by Krishnan Subramanian, Founder, Shramy Learning Technologies.

There is a distinct patriotic buzz in the air, as India celebrates 75^th anniversary of her independence from colonial rulers. Local governments have been distributing free flags to fly from every household. Bollywood celebrities have been sending out best wishes on Instagram. Most marketers have prepared special Independence Day promotional materials. Even politicians have been educating themselves on the secular significance of the colours on the National Flag. No questions about it, the mood is upbeat.

Of course, one cannot help being swept away in all this emotion.

I, too, am proud of all that my country has achieved in the last 75 years. There have been great strides in infant mortality, reduction in the female fertility rate, enhanced emphasis on the girl child, eradication of polio, vaccinating the population against Covid, achievements in various kinds of infrastructure, the Aadhar enabled transformations, achieving food independence with the green and white revolutions, booming stock markets, sending a satellite to Mars at a fraction of the cost of its competitors, increase in living standards for many, the demographic dividend of our youth, generally upbeat consumer confidence index in view of all the prevailing global gloom, the list is seemingly endless. (And I would welcome all readers to add their own reasons to this list in the comments to make it even more exhaustive). All these achievements have resulted in sporadic but widespread worldwide recognition of India’s scientific, engineering, managerial and sporting talent.

Naturally, instead of what is, the mind also drifts to what could have been. As one of my various bosses once commented to me, “When something is true in India, the opposite is equally true.”

Nearly half our population still lives below the poverty line of $2 per day (which itself is an artificial and arbitrary construct). The Gini co-efficient is rising, which in real terms means that the rich are getting much richer, while the poor become poorer. Unemployment continues to be a curse, where we are not able to provide a livelihood to our young and aspiring. Air pollution now kills more people annually than smoking. Access to healthcare through primary health centers is patchy since they do not have any qualified doctors and nurses. In perverse irony, female feticide is the highest in the most affluent urban pin codes. The four BIMARU states continue to pull down India’s averages on almost every global ‘Quality of Life’ index. Petty everyday corruption continues to be prevalent, while big corruption scandals create breaking news with regular monotony. Standard of primary education is abysmal, even if it is universal.  Secondary and Higher education, with their cookie cutter approach, leave much to be desired. The list of woes also overflows unabated.

So, where does one begin to solve all the problems and challenges facing this country? As any strategist will tell you, it is far better to build on your strengths rather than focus on overcoming your weakness.

What is the one strength of India that all of us can agree on? This is in its ‘demographic dividend’. The fact that 62.5% of its population is of working age and is expected to peak sometime in 2036. We have one of the youngest populations in an ageing world.

But one still has to unlock this seemingly endless human potential of India. This potential strength can become an opportunity only if it is harnessed under the right conditions.

Equally, this opportunity could easily slip into becoming a potential time bomb. A vast majority of this population has only limited access to education and training. Worse, they are either inactive or engaged in low-skilled work in the informal economy. The consequences of such demographic failure could be grave. Recent protests over the Agnipath scheme show that lack of jobs and hope among youth can become violent very quickly.

In other words, the demographic dividend can be made to solve many of India’s challenges. But for this to happen, educated young people (especially girls) need to be gainfully employed in a skilled workforce to make a high-performing economy that generates high-quality jobs.

Simply put, if India has to truly celebrate its 100^th year of independence as a leading economy of the world, we need all our youngsters to be playing at peak levels within their chosen professions.

How will this happen?

The naysayers among us will quickly point out that approximately 76% of the people employed in the services sector have not received any formal training at all. (P.S. The only sector worse than services is agriculture; where 78% of all people employed have not received any formal training.)

But the optimists will point out to the reawakening happening around upskilling. Covid has been an eye-opener to many young people on the need to stay updated and relevant in the workforce. The increasing enrolments in the online Edutech movement around skill upgradation have been encouraging. Gaining knowledge and certification to surgically cover up skill gaps in one’s competency is becoming a woke thing (especially on LinkedIn!).

This awakening must spread deeper, faster.

As I have argued elsewhere, one core fundamental to accelerate this is to design educational systems that put the learner at the center of the educational universe, willingly engaging with subjects of their liking. (This is opposed to forcing an irrelevant and impractical curriculum on an uninterested and disengaged student only seeking the degree certificate).

Simply put, we need democracy in education.

This Amrit Mahotsav, let us pledge to become a leading economy of the world by creating an education that is of the learner, by the learner, for the learner.

Jai Hind.

(The views expressed are those of the author’s. Adgully does not subscribe to those views.)