Character · Pillar 6 of 8
Values
Whether Indians, as they grow richer, remain honest, accountable and restrained: living by Karma in public and private life, with lives that feel meaningful and not merely comfortable.
What is the Values pillar?
Values is the sixth of eight pillars in the 47 BH framework for a developed Bharat by 2047, and one of the three pillars in the Character layer, which covers the more important goal of becoming richer in character. It asks whether Indians, as they grow richer, remain honest, accountable and restrained: living by Karma in public and private life, with lives that feel meaningful and not merely comfortable. It has six sub-pillars: personal integrity; civic sense; trust; public discourse; passing on values; and wellbeing and purpose.
How Values connects to the 47 BH vision
Values is the first of three Character pillars, the more important half of the vision. It asks whether people live by Karma, accountable for every action, as they grow richer.
A developed Bharat that is richer in per capita income and, more importantly, in character: where people work hard and build wealth, yet live by Karma, accountable for every action, and by Dharma, doing their duty towards their family, friends, society and all life on this earth.
The 47 BH vision for 2047
The six sub-pillars of Values
Each sub-pillar is a part of Values that 47 BH examines in its conversations and explainers, through the two lenses described below.
- 6.1
Personal integrity
Honesty in everyday dealings, tax compliance, and the absence of petty and large-scale corruption.
47 BH looks at honesty in everyday dealings, from paying taxes to keeping one's word, and at corruption, both petty and large.
- 6.2
Civic sense
Behaviour in shared spaces, such as cleanliness, traffic discipline, queuing and care for public property.
47 BH looks at how people behave in shared spaces: keeping them clean, following traffic rules, waiting their turn and caring for public property.
- 6.3
Trust
The degree to which people trust one another, businesses and public institutions.
47 BH looks at how far people trust one another, businesses and public institutions, because trust makes cooperation easier in every part of life.
- 6.4
Public discourse
The quality and civility of public debate, the spread of misinformation, and the level of polarisation.
47 BH looks at the quality and civility of public debate, the spread of misinformation, and how polarised society has become.
- 6.5
Passing on values
How accountability, duty and restraint are understood and handed down to the next generation.
47 BH looks at how accountability, duty and restraint are understood and handed down from one generation to the next.
- 6.6
Wellbeing and purpose
Life satisfaction, contentment and a sense of purpose, beyond material comfort.
47 BH looks at whether people are content and find purpose in their lives, not only whether they are materially comfortable.
Two lenses on Values
Two lenses apply to every sub-pillar in the 47 BH framework, so that rural India is present throughout and India learns from the world without copying it.
City and village
Values is examined for both urban and rural Bharat: whether civic sense, trust and wellbeing hold in fast-growing cities as well as in villages, and how they change as people move between the two.
Learn, avoid, protect
- Learn
- What can India learn from countries with high levels of social trust and civic discipline?
- Avoid
- Which mistakes should it avoid, such as growing richer while becoming more polarised, more consumerist and less content?
- Protect
- What of its own should it protect, such as its civilisational values of accountability, duty and restraint, which are shared across faiths?
Where Values meets other pillars
Personal honesty sits under Values. The effectiveness of institutions sits under the Governance pillar. Each topic has one home in the framework.
Questions about the Values pillar
What is the Values pillar of 47 BH?
Values is the sixth of eight pillars in the 47 BH framework for a developed Bharat by 2047. It asks whether Indians, as they grow richer, remain honest, accountable and restrained, living by Karma in public and private life, with lives that feel meaningful and not merely comfortable.
What are the six sub-pillars of Values?
Personal integrity; civic sense; trust; public discourse; passing on values; and wellbeing and purpose.
What does living by Karma mean in 47 BH?
Accountability for every action: the idea that each person is responsible for what they do, in public and in private life.
Is the Values pillar about religion?
No. 47 BH treats values such as accountability, duty and restraint as civilisational and shared across faiths.