India has 7,688 days, until August 15, 2047, to deliver on the promise of Viksit Bharat. The target requires sustained gains in income and productivity, which depend on better use of labour, capital and technology. Labour is the urgent part. India’s demographic advantage will not last indefinitely.

A large working-age population yields a dividend only when people are trained and employed. India has the numbers, but the passage from education to work is failing. Protests over examinations, paper leaks, recruitment delays and the shortage of jobs are evidence of that failure. They cannot be treated simply as law-and-order events.

The question for education policy is straightforward. Are schools and universities preparing students for work, or feeding a long queue for competitive examinations? Too many graduates spend several years and substantial family savings preparing for a small number of vacancies. Coaching expands while productive work is postponed. When recruitment is delayed or an examination is cancelled, the loss cannot be measured only by the fee paid for the form.

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