Written by Governor of Uttarakhand, Lt Gen Gurmit Singh (Retd) PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, VSM
As we move towards Viksit Bharat 2047, our task is to bring these strengths together. As we advance towards the centenary of our Independence, each citizen must ask what he or she can contribute to the India of 2047. An Indian student can build an Artificial Intelligence model while remaining deeply connected to the values of home. A young entrepreneur can compete globally while creating opportunities in a village. A young soldier can master the technologies of future warfare while carrying forward a tradition of courage and sacrifice that stretches across generations. Our civilisational ethos has always placed knowledge alongside wisdom, individual achievement alongside collective good and progress alongside responsibility. This balance between innovation and inheritance is one of India’s greatest strengths. The Bharat of the future must be AI-enabled, research-driven, innovation-led and globally competitive, while remaining anchored in the civilisational wisdom that has guided this nation for thousands of years. Our knowledge traditions, languages, philosophy, Yoga and Ayurveda are not simply inheritances from the past. They can become important assets for the future. Research must similarly move beyond publications and laboratories into patents, products, enterprises and solutions that improve lives. The Anusandhan National Research Foundation offers an important opportunity to deepen collaboration between universities, researchers, industry and society. A developed India cannot be built by economic growth alone. It requires integrity in public life, transparency in governance and equal opportunity for every citizen. It also requires the full participation of India’s women. Across the country, women are leading transformation through Self Help Groups, entrepreneurship, higher education, scientific research, administration, sports and the Armed Forces. Initiatives such as Lakhpati Didi demonstrate what becomes possible when women are connected with skills, finance, technology and markets. When a woman becomes economically empowered, the impact travels far beyond one household. India’s progress over the last decade demonstrates what becomes possible when aspiration is matched with execution. Young innovators are building globally relevant enterprises. Universities are expanding the frontiers of research. The startup ecosystem is creating new pathways for employment and enterprise. These are signs of a confident nation increasingly prepared to shape the future. Uttarakhand reflects this larger national transformation in a uniquely inspiring way. Our young people remain Uttarakhand’s greatest strength. If opportunities for technology, entrepreneurship, research and enterprise can reach our hills, migration can increasingly become a matter of choice rather than compulsion. The world is searching for models that reconcile progress with humanity. India’s civilisational experience gives us the ability, and the responsibility, to offer such a model. Freedom acquires its fullest meaning when rights are accompanied by responsibility.
Our universities must become places where ideas are transformed into innovation and where young Indians are encouraged to solve the problems of tomorrow.
