Engage. Empower. Evolve.

March is a seminar month for the academics of India. Everyone is busy attending and participating in seminars, symposia, and conferences in higher learning institutions to demonstrate their research contributions and to get certificates for their participation in career promotion. One should not presume that the contributions will always create new knowledge and solve the critical issues of the development of society. Yet there are good academic writings among the presentations that will help the junior participants learn how to do rigorous research and writing. Few academics participate very seriously in looking for takeaways.

Recently, I have been invited to be a panellist at an international conference organized by a central government Gandhian Institute, where I served for about three decades as a faculty member. The conference’s theme was “Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)”. The moment I reached, I was informed that more than 150 articles had been submitted on different themes related to the 17 SDGs. I noticed that senior academics and committed researchers were present. While I was listening to some of the presentations, I sensed that academics analysed and evaluated the progress of the countries in reaching the SDGs from the perspective of governance and administration.

In this context, I was asked to intervene in the discourse as a panellist on the theme of the conference. Having been trained and oriented in the framework of Gandhi and Gandhian institutions, I started my discussion on the importance of the participation of people in achieving the SDGs instead of lamenting the initiatives of the federal and regional governments in achieving the 17 SDGs. While explaining the theme ‘participation of people’, I asked the participants to look at the ‘Constructive Programme’ of the SDGs and ‘Hind Swaraj’ of MK Gandhi. The 17 goals that the UN has set are in the two booklets of Gandhi, which are powerful transformational instruments. Gandhi relies on the community to resolve the issues of development through a process of active participation. When a community is united, oriented, and sensitized, it will take responsibility for managing its affairs on its own. The bilateral institutions, national and regional authoritative institutions, namely the parliament and the legislature, will make policies and pass resolutions. But actions have to be carried out only on the ground. The involvement of the stakeholders is an imperative step.

It is to be noted here that no country can be developed and transformed only through government policies and their implementation by the bureaucracy alone. Unless people participate in and work closely with the government, development would mean dole-giving, and not enabling the people to live on their own. As we are in the context of the market and beneficiary culture of the government, people must be integrated into the process of governance and development as partners in development and stakeholders with adequate powers and responsibilities. While looking at the seven decades of development, one can notice irresponsibilities set in at every level, and as a result, we find failures of government. First, we have to work with the community to sensitize them on health, sanitation, water, primary education, energy and livelihood. It is a professional job. It cannot be done by anybody. Yet the local governments are in action. They are to be used by professionals. In India, if it is in the context of rural development, nobody talks about professional work. On the ground, we have worked professionally to enable the public to act as responsible citizens, parents, school teachers, and responsible health workers. At every level, responsible professional actions are imperative to achieve transformational change.

As local governments play an important role in transformational change, higher learning institutions have to play a significant role in the community for its transformation through the newly introduced Unnath Barath Abhiyan 2.0. If universities and colleges started doing this work with a sense of commitment, transformational change at the grassroots would be achievable. It does not require a huge money. What it needs is enthusiasm and commitment on the part of the teachers and the students. It should not be an assigned function by the authorities; rather should be an assumed function. Teachers are doing this work for the country. By doing so, we discharge the academic social responsibility. To achieve the sustainable development goals, we have to work on the ground. Global issues could be talked about through local actions for a better and brighter tomorrow.

Views expressed are personal