New Delhi, Nov 16, 2025: The vision of a “Viksit Bharat” cannot be realized without ensuring affordable housing, accessible medical care, and reasonably priced education for all citizens, former Supreme Court judge A.S. Oka said on Saturday.

Speaking at the Trialogue on “Sustainable Development and the Idea of India Therein,” organised by the Justice Ajay Kumar Tripathi Foundation, Oka stressed that true development goes far beyond constructing flyovers, expansive roads, airports, or other grand infrastructure projects.

“There can’t be a Viksit Bharat if our cities fail to provide affordable accommodation,” Oka said. “Where is the question of development if the lower-middle class cannot afford a decent home in our bigger cities? For 25 years, have we truly created housing that an honest, hardworking person can occupy?”

He further highlighted the lack of public hospitals and essential medical facilities, emphasising that infrastructure alone does not equate to development. “Viksit Bharat is not only about constructing huge flyovers, roads, airports, or other infrastructure,” he added.

Oka also linked the idea of India’s development to environmental rights. “The Idea of India includes ensuring every citizen’s right to clean air and a pollution-free environment. The government has utterly failed in this regard. Protecting the environment is being left largely to environmentalists and the courts,” he said.

Former Delhi High Court judge Najmi Waziri, who also addressed the event, echoed Oka’s concerns, urging citizens to take responsibility for environmental conservation. “The institutions entrusted with this duty under the Constitution have failed to fulfil it. There is no one to take care of the environment; no angel will come to do it. Whatever needs to be done must be done by citizens. Systems that are supposed to deliver are not delivering. India is not for the rich alone; it is for everyone, and everyone has a right to live,” Waziri said.

The event underscored the need for a holistic understanding of development—one that prioritizes housing, healthcare, education, and environmental sustainability alongside traditional infrastructure projects. Both judges called for citizens and the government to actively work together to ensure that the promise of Viksit Bharat reaches all strata of society.