Voice Matters for <i>Viksit Bharat</i> : Dr. Ambedkar’s Visions Realized Through NEP 2020

Babasaheb Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was a true educationist which is evident through his eruditeness and pursuit of higher education in the early twentieth century. This was a time when receiving an array of degrees from abroad was unheard of by most people. His scholastic endeavors initiated from an early age to build a character and take up Sankalp (resolve) to devote himself to the service of the nation by aiding the poorest of the poor and to socially uplift themselves through education as a means. His contribution to the growth and development of social sciences is often overlooked by scholars and researchers in Indian academia. Nonetheless, his indomitable visions and thoughts seem to influence policymaking even to date which is evident in the drafting of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the following of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. These policies were created in the recent past but in essence, these policies intricately follow the values and ideals laid down by Dr. Ambedkar. His vision was not simply constrained to education as a development of personality but education as a means of future livelihood, more specifically as a development multiplier. Education, for Dr. Ambedkar, was a means to break free from the fetters of analphabetism, obliviousness, and the fallacies of so-called elite castes, which would empower and emancipate them to fight various degrees of social discrimination and eventually annihilate them. The present article seeks to delve into the NEP 2020 policy as a pivotal instrument echoing Dr. Ambedkar’s value for fostering an egalitarian society as our nation strives toward being Vishwaguru and becoming Viksit Bharat by 2047, highlighting that, indeed, every voice matters.