Solan, September 18, 2026: Public Policy India (PPI) and L.R. Group of Institutes, in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and MY Bharat, organised the Viksit Bharat Young Leaders Dialogue 2026 – Young Professionals Roundtable in Solan, Himachal Pradesh, on Thursday.
Held on the theme “Building a Future-Ready Workforce for Viksit Bharat,” the roundtable focused on the role of young professionals in building a skilled, ethical and adaptable workforce aligned with the vision of a developed India by 2047.
The discussion opened with a youth presentation by Viraaj Sood, presenter at VBYLD 2026, who advocated the creation of community skill labs, village skill banks and future skill parks to transform India’s demographic dividend into a productivity dividend.
Dr. (Prof.) Kulbhushan Chandel, Professor at Himachal Pradesh University, stressed the need to align education with industry requirements. He said education must go beyond knowledge acquisition to focus on capability building, innovation and values.
Ritika Singh, Founder and CEO of Kontent Factory, encouraged young people to focus on character building, healthy coping mechanisms and developing a credible personal brand.
Yash Agarwal, Founder of Public Policy India and STRIDE, urged young professionals to explore career opportunities within India, gain practical experience through internships and strengthen human-centric soft skills that cannot easily be replaced by artificial intelligence.
Dr. (H.C.) Shachi Singh, Managing Director of L.L.R. Educational Trust, emphasised the importance of integrating Universal Human Values across schools, ITIs and universities to help create an ethical and capable workforce.
Bhupender Singh Gill, District Youth Officer, MY Bharat, Solan, was also present at the event.
The programme was attended by Department Principals Dr. Nisha Sharma, Dr. Kanchan Bala Jaiswal, Dr. Shweta Sandhu and Dr. Avneet Gupta, along with Registrar Surat Singh.
An interactive question-and-answer session provided students an opportunity to engage with the speakers on future skills, grassroots-level upskilling and the education-employment gap.
The speakers highlighted that a skills-only approach would not be sufficient to prepare India’s workforce for the future. They stressed the importance of developing judgement, empathy, integrity, adaptability and a lifelong-learning mindset alongside technical and professional skills to contribute meaningfully to the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.
