nternational Expert Dialogue on Reimagining Rural Livelihoods through UBA and Higher Education: Towards a Gandhian Pathway to Viksit Bharat @ 2047

India’s dream of becoming a Viksit Bharat by 2047 calls for harmony among knowledge systems, governance, and society — a braid of wisdom old and new. With most of our people rooted in rural heartlands, the nation’s progress beats in village soil. Higher education has grown fast, yet its touch on rural realities stays faint. Thinkers like Amartya Sen and Jean Drèze remind us that true development happens only when academic knowledge meets local lives. NEP 2020 echoes this, urging multidisciplinary learning, community connection, and research that serves society. So HEIs must rise — strengthening livelihoods, nurturing sustainable growth, and empowering communities through purposeful rural engagement. That is how the future honors the past.