BT India@100: Highways over schools? Experts warn India’s priorities risk leaving millions of kids behind

In a dusty village classroom with no walls, a teacher stands before a small group of children, their notebooks balanced on their knees. The lesson is interrupted not by lack of will or spirit, but by an order from above: the school must use its meagre funds to buy fire extinguishers, for a midday meal programme it doesn’t even have the facilities to run. It’s a snapshot of the disconnect between policy design and ground realities in India’s development story.

This vivid example set the tone at the BT India@100 summit session “No One Left Behind: India’s Next Leap,” where public policy expert Yamini Aiyar and Pratham CEO Rukmini Banerji explored how governance and education reforms must work from the ground up. The conversation pressed home the need to align resources with real needs, and to empower local governments to make those decisions.

“There is no developed India if we don’t take all of India along,” Aiyar said, warning that corruption and rigid directives too often override local priorities. The school's example she described would have been far better served using its money for extra textbooks or an additional volunteer, instead of a fire extinguisher.

Banerji shifted focus to learning gaps, particularly for children who missed early grades during COVID-19. She cited Maharashtra’s Nipun Mission, a state initiative that mobilises mothers into local learning support groups, helping young children build foundational skills in language and numeracy. “We put out an appeal at a local level to come and help these kids. So 6 lakh volunteers gathered to help with basic math and English,” she said.

Both speakers stressed that true inclusivity requires decentralised governance, smarter resource allocation, and community partnerships. “We prioritise our highways over schools and education,” Aiyar said. Banerji added, “Money and human resources are both important. We need to learn how to use the resources at hand.”

Both agreed that money and human resources must go hand in hand. Teachers should be empowered to address varied learning needs, and governance must break from hierarchy to leverage local partnerships. Institutionalising government–citizen collaboration, they said, is essential. “Ultimately, development is the process… it's all about what happens at the grassroots,” Aiyar concluded.