Still a long way to go in literacy: PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the occasion of International Literay Day on Tuesday gave an assurance that his governments ...

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the occasion of International Literay Day on Tuesday gave an assurance that his governments commitment to providing good quality education to every child in the country would not be compromised by a lack of resources. Launching the National Mission for Female Literacy christened Sakshar Bharat Mission,the Prime Minister said that there was a need to renew the efforts of the 1980s and 1990s when we were able to make a significant dent in the problem of illiteracy.

The PM pointed out that his government accorded the greatest importance to the education sector which was evident from his government choosing the finest minds to head the HRD ministry.

Noting that while India had made considerable progress since Independence with literacy levels moving up from 18 per cent in 1950s to 52 per cent in 1991 and 65 per cent in 2001 the highest ever decadal growth Singh said there was still a long way to go. One third of Indias population continues to be illiterate. About half of our women still cannot read or write. Persistent illiteracy,particularly among women,Scheduled Castes,Scheduled Tribes,minorities and other disadvantaged groups,is a challenge that we must face head on. We must make our nation fully literate,if we want to empower the average citizen and make rapid progress,he said.

The Mission would be implemented in 1.7 lakh gram panchayats spread over 365 districts which have a low female literacy rate as also 33 districts affected by Left-wing extremism. Eighty five per cent of its beneficiaries would be women and nearly half of them would be from Scheduled Castes,Tribes and minorities. The total estimated cost of the mission is Rs 6,502 crore and the Central share is about Rs 4,993 crore. The sharing between the Central and states would be 75:25 except in Northeastern states where the ratio will be 90:10.

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