President Pranab Mukherjee today emphasised on stepping up efforts toward complete eradication of illiteracy from the country with enhanced focus on improving literacy rate among SC, ST, minorities and disadvantaged sections of the society.
"Our objective should be to bring the literacy rate not only on par with the world average but to the levels attained by the leading societies of the world," he said while addressing the 'International Literacy Day' function here.
Invoking Mahatma Gandhi, who had said that illiteracy is a sin and shame and must be eradicated, Mukherjee encouraged the corporate and private sectors, voluntary agencies and civil society organisations to make efforts to improve adult literacy.
The country's march toward "total literacy" will depend on meaningful and effective advocacy and support of society at large to bring illiterates into the mainstream of literacy, he said.
"Today, more than 67 years after our Independence, where are we? The literacy rate has increased by four times from 18 per cent in 1951 to about 74 per cent in 2011. Despite this, our literacy level is below the world average of 84 per cent," the President said.
While the country has set a target of 80 per cent literacy by the end of the 12th Plan, Mukherjee said during this period the Government would also seek to reduce the gender gap from 16 to 10 percentage points.
"Uneven" progress in adult literacy should also be addressed as while on one hand states like Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Mizoram have done reasonably well, many other States are lagging behind, he said.
