President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday termed gender disparity in literacy as an important challenge, and said the government rightly considers female literacy as a force multiplier for its social development programmes
"As we have been told, male and female literacy rates are 80.89 and 64.64 percent respectively. We need to do much better. Government of India rightly considers female literacy as a force multiplier for its social development programmes. In this context, I was glad to note that the National Literacy Mission has enhanced its focus on female literacy," said President Mukherjee in his speech on the occasion of International Literacy Day.
"If the mission enables the Indian woman to take charge of her life and health and feel more confident in her immediate physical and social environment; if literacy helps her to overcome deprivation, discrimination and injustice, then we can say that an important objective has been achieved," he added.
President Mukherjee said literacy leads to education in the full sense of the term and added that it results in the acquisition of essential knowledge and proficiency.
"These are the instruments for the effective functioning of an individual - both in his group and in the larger community to which he belongs. They empower him and enable him to broaden his horizons and work for his own interest and that of the larger community," he added.
Calling the International Literacy Day an occasion to remind ourselves of the significance of the ability to read and write, President Mukherjee said, "Literacy, in its contemporary definition, means "reading the world" rather than "the word". It enables more perceptive and thus more effective exchanges of thoughts and ideas."
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"A literate - and, therefore, educated - society is better able to explore its way towards its inclusive economic and social well being through democratic means. Thus it follows that the more literate a society, the greater its overall integration, growth and development. The plan of action for eradication of illiteracy should, therefore, not only focus on the tangible aspects of literacy but also delve into its intangible and intrinsic aspects," he added.
Pointing out that the literacy rate has increased by four times from 18 percent in 1951 to about 74 percent in 2011, President Mukherjee said: Despite this, our literacy level is below the world average of 84 percent. A target of 80 percent has been set for achievement by the end of the 12th Plan."
"In this period, we aim to also reduce the gender gap from 16 to 10 percentage points. However our progress in adult literacy has been uneven and wide disparities are still seen. While States like Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Mizoram have done reasonably well, many other States are lagging behind. The Schedule Castes, Schedule Tribes, Minorities and other disadvantaged groups, which constitute a sizeable part of our population, have very much lower rates of literacy," he added.
President Mukherjee further said there is, thus, an urgent need to focus attention on these groups to help them to catch up so that we can move faster towards the national targets.
Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Smriti Zubin Irani was also present on the occasion.