Inculcating Internal Governance of Resilience: Aligning Statutory Decrees with Bhagavad Gita Philosophy in the Context of NEP 2020 IKS Directive

Abstract

The burgeoning adversity of student suicides in the Indian Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) exemplifies the inadequacy of both, the organizational governance and the individual resilience and fortitude. Undoubtedly, the dual legislation – the Mental Healthcare Act (MHCA), 2017 and the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita (BNS), 2023, provide a legitimate “Defence” in the form of Decriminalization of Suicide, thereby assigning an “Obligation of Protection” on the judiciary and the Tertiary Educational Institutions (TEIs). However, this framework is reactive in its approach.
Thus, this study scrutinizes the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 from the angle of incorporating the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) as a pre-emptive “Internal Governance” mechanism. It attempts to draw a symbiotic relationship between the legislative proviso of the MHCA, 2017 and the BNS, 2023 on one hand, with the cognitive-behavioral principles of the Bhagavad Gita on the other, with an objective to recommend a didactic model for Life Skills Development. It contends that the lessons like the Nishkama Karma Yog (self-less action) and Samatvam (equanimity), advocated by the Bhagvad Gita are crucial professional capabilities that the HEIs need to inculcate in the students to accomplish its stewardship accountability of sustaining the latter’s emotional well-being.