Nurturing India’s Phenomenal Pluralism and Shared Heritage within the Modern Educational System
Nasir Rasheed
Modern India stands as one of the most complex, vibrant and beautifully diverse countries in the world. It is a multi-ethnic nation that serves as a home to thousands of distinct communities and tribal groups. Within our geographical borders, there are more than 3,000 different social groups and communities, each with its own hierarchical structures and unique ways of living.The sheer scale of this variety is staggering. India is the proud birthplace of four of the world’s major religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainismand Sikhism. Simultaneously, it nurtures people of many faiths, holding the third-largest population of Muslims globally, alongside large communities of Christians, Jewsand Parsis.
Our linguistic landscape is equally phenomenal. There are more than 19,500 languages or dialects spoken as a mother tongue across the country. Out of these, 121 languages are spoken by groups of 10,000 or more people. Geographically, India encompasses everything from the towering, snow-capped mountain ranges of the Himalayas to the vast Indo-Gangetic plains, the Deccan Plateau, the arid deserts of the westand the wettest ecosystems in the northeast. Because of this rich environment, India is officially recognised as one of the world’s 17‘megadiverse’countries, sheltering around 8% of all recorded global species, including over 45,000 plant and 91,000 animal species.However, maintaining the unity of a country with such an intricate and varied structure is a monumental task. The Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, understood this profound challenge when he observed, “Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilisation.” “Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilisation.” -Mahatma Gandhi.
Since India gained independence, the government has launched various policies and schemes to safeguard this diversity and keep the nation united. Yet, the most structured, visionaryand active step taken in recent times is the ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ (EBSB) programme.
The idea of establishing a sustained and structured cultural connection between people of different regions was mooted by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 31st October 2015. This date is deeply significant as it marked the Rashtriya Ekta Divas (National Unity Day), celebrating the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the architect of a united India.The Prime Minister perfectly summarised the core philosophy of this vision: “Unity in diversity is India’s strength. There is simplicity in every Indian. There is unity in every corner of India.” He proposed that our cultural diversity is a joy that ought to be celebrated through mutual interaction and reciprocity between the people of different States and Union Territories (UTs).Under the EBSB programme, every State and UT is paired with another for a dedicated period. For example, when Andhra Pradesh is paired with Punjab, the engagement is deeply reciprocal. Punjabis attempt to learn key words in Telugu, while Telugu literature is translated into Punjabi. Andhraites hold food festivals offering Punjabi dishesand the youth exchange folk dances, performing Bhangra and Kuchipudi at staged events. This pattern of cultural adoption ensures that citizens build a common spirit of understanding.
While EBSB provides the noble cultural goal, a goal without a practical plan remains just a dream. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 serves as the technical and pedagogical roadmap to turn this vision into a daily reality. The NEP 2020 dictates that the curriculum across the country must be informed byand be fully responsive to, the glorious unity and diversity of India.By fundamentally redesigning how our children learn, NEP 2020 takes cultural integration out of occasional school functions and embeds it directly into the daily academic calendar.
“Unity in diversity is India’s strength. There is simplicity in every Indian. There is unity in every corner of India.” -Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Language is the most powerful bridge between human beings. To facilitate language learning and cultural integration, the EBSB programme is completely aligned with the NEP 2020. Through the Bhasha Sangam initiative, the objective is to introduce school students to all the 22 languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India.State educational boards prepare booklets and audio-visual materials containing 100 foundational sentences in the language of the paired state. Students learn commonly spoken phrases, greetings and proverbs.
“The National Education Policy 2020 provides a structured framework that strengthens the ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ initiative. By transforming classrooms into interactive models of India’s cultural diversity, the policy ensures future citizens develop a natural mutual understanding and sustain a united, supreme nation.”
By familiarising themselves with the phonetic sounds and basic grammar of another region, students develop immense linguistic tolerance and respect. To ensure continuous participation, schools are mandated to establish dedicated EBSB Clubs. These clubs are the engines of the programme at the ground level. They organise ‘Theme-based Display Boards’ and ‘Wall Magazines’ where students pin up their research on the historical monuments, dressing stylesand wildlife of the paired state. They also manage special morning assemblies where students take pledges on national unity, water conservationand cleanliness in the language of their partner state.
The NEP 2020 shifts the focus of education from rote memorisation to hands-on, experiential learning. Schools now host toy-making workshops where students learn to craft traditional, hand-made toys from their paired state. By researching the materials used, such as specific woods, clays or fabrics, students naturally learn about the geography and climate of that region. Furthermore, Art-Integrated Learning requires students to study and reproduce the folk paintings and traditional crafts of their partner states, blending creativity with cultural education.
Recognising the power of technology, the roadmap includes digital interactions to bridge geographical distances. Schools facilitate ‘e-Penpal’ programmes, where students exchange emails, stories and letters with peers in unknown schools of their paired state. Furthermore, educational departments organise virtual ‘EBSB Utsavs’ (Festivals), allowing students to showcase their projects, sing regional songsand engage in live video-conferencing, making the partner state feel incredibly real and accessible.
Physical fitness is a crucial part of the NEP 2020and it is cleverly tied to national integration. Sports teachers are instructed to learn and then teach the indigenous, traditional sports of the paired state. When children step onto the playground to play a new regional game, they learn the universal values of teamwork, disciplineand mutual respect, which effortlessly dissolve cultural boundaries.
The programme goes beyond just arts and language; it includes scientific and environmental literacy. Students undertake research projects focusing on the climate, agriculture, flora, faunaand knowledge of traditional medicinal plants of the paired state. By comparing the ecosystems of their home state with their partner state, students develop a unified approach to national environmental conservation.
The ultimate objective of this detailed educational roadmap is to eradicate the feeling of being an outsider in one’s own country. A student from the Northeast should never feel like a stranger when they arrive in Delhiand a person from Uttarakhand should not feel out of place in Kerala.By exposing children to the rich heritage, traditions, foodsand languages of different regions from a very young age, the NEP 2020 removes prejudices and builds deep-rooted empathy. It shapes young minds to realise that despite different outward appearances or eating habits, the core values of the Indian people remain identical.
India is a unique nation whose fabric has been woven by diverse linguistic, culturaland religious threads, held together into a composite national identity by a shared history. However, this tall flame of nationhood needs to be actively nourished and cherished by every new generation.
Through the comprehensive, structured, and highly interactive roadmap provided by the National Education Policy 2020, the ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ programme has found its strongest platform. By transforming our classrooms into miniature, interactive models of India, we are guaranteeing that our future citizens will naturally uphold the spirit of mutual understanding. They will confidently carry forward the beautiful legacy of an Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharata nation that is truly one and truly supreme.
(The author is Research Scholar at University of Kashmir. The views, opinions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the author and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”)
