Happiness in Higher Education: Shaping Viksit Bharat

March 20 is celebrated as International Day of Happiness.

One way to happiness is prosperity, and the idea of a Viksit Bharat can be a big help in it.

The government has proposed creating Viksit Bharat by 2047. There is a lot of focus, discussion, deliberations, conferences, events, meetings, and related things on the idea of a Viksit Bharat by 2047. It is a positive idea, and it is good for the country to create a Viksit Bharat.

However, one also needs to elaborate and be sure about what kind of developed country India wants to be. Does it want to be a developed country like the others, or does it have a different model of development? It is significant because the developed countries following the development model, aside from a few, have run into their own problems, and one of the main problems is the silent pandemic of unhappiness.

In this path of a Viksit Bharat, we need to choose a path that balances development with happiness. And for this, it is important to include happiness in the education system, including higher education.

The education system needs to take the idea of happiness more seriously for two reasons. First, it can help address the challenges of the silent unhappiness pandemic, and second, it can help create a healthier, more prosperous society with a positive outlook on community and relationships.

The higher education system need to take a comprehensive approach to engage in first being aware of it, creating awareness for others, creating right knowledge, creating short term courses, creating long term programmes creating research centres, producing doctorates, creating faculty talent pool, and so on to make sure this idea of happiness gets implemented properly in various institutions, more by a choice and individual initiatives by the institutions rather than waiting for a government policy for the same. It cannot be delayed any longer to ensure the happiness journey is guided in the right direction.

By actively participating and supporting the idea of Viksit Bharat with a balance between development and happiness, one can create a Viksit Bharat, which is both happy and prosperous.

Let's create a Viksit Bharat, which is also a Happy Bharat.

(This article is written by Dr. Rajesh K. Pillania, Professor, Management Development Institute, Gurgaon. This is an opinionated article; EPN has nothing to do with this editorial.)