NEW DELHI: Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday said that philanthropic efforts should not be driven by commercial interests, highlighting concerns about commodification in health and education.
Speaking as the Chief Guest at the 75th-anniversary ceremony of K.P.B. Hinduja College of Commerce in Mumbai, he called on corporate leaders to see investment in education as a contribution to the nation’s future.
“Our health and education sectors are being plagued by these influences... Corporate leaders should view investment in education not just as philanthropy but as an investment in our present, our future, and, to put it bluntly, an investment in the development of industry, business, and trade,” Dhankhar said.
He described education as a powerful tool for transformation, addressing inequalities and creating a level playing field. "Education is the most impactful, transformative mechanism because it brings about equality. It addresses inequities, affords a level playing field, and uncovers genius through the path of education. Our framers of the Constitution were very wise; they placed education in the Concurrent List. For those who are not familiar with the legal term, the Concurrent List means it is a joint responsibility of both the state and the union," he stated.
Calling for greater private sector involvement, Dhankhar said, “I would appeal from this platform — a platform where I have witnessed the power of philanthropy giving back to society. It is a shared responsibility between the government and the private sector. Those in industry, trade, business, and commerce must come forward and take the initiative. I urge the private sector of our country to rise to this occasion and accord the highest priority to education.”
He pointed out that universities in the West receive substantial endowments, a culture that India has yet to develop. “Many in the audience will agree that the endowments of some of the universities in the US are in the billions of dollars. Why is it that we do not have this culture in our country? In the West, anyone leaving an institution feels committed to making some fiscal contribution. The quantum is never important.”
Reflecting on India’s historical educational institutions, Dhankhar said, “We once had glorified institutions such as Odantapuri, Takshila, Vikramshila, Somapura, Nalanda, and Vallabhi... scholars came from every corner of the world to seek knowledge, impart knowledge, and share it.”
He lamented the destruction of Nalanda, a centre of learning that housed thousands of students and teachers, stating, “The thirst for knowledge was satisfied. But what happened around twelve hundred years ago? Nalanda, the intellectual jewel of ancient India, housed ten thousand students and two thousand teachers in a nine-storey building. However, in 1193, Bakhtiyar Khilji, a reckless destroyer of our culture and academic institutions, set the premises on fire. For months, the fire consumed vast libraries, reducing hundreds of thousands of irreplaceable manuscripts on mathematics, medicine, and philosophy to ash.”
He concluded by noting that the loss was not just architectural but a systematic erasure of centuries of knowledge.