Essays

"Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope."                                                           —Anonymous

With India on the verge of being the most populous country, the only gizmo that can decide the country's fate now is education. Education alone possesses the power to convert the population of 1,21 billion Indians from liability to assets. Today, human asset is the most valuable and prized resource. The dire need is to provide the requisite skills to transform its masses into massive working force.

The first step towards this arduous but rewarding journey is literacy—the ability to read and write with understanding. While the country boasts of its IT revolution the world over and churns out world-class software professionals and engineers, it is disgraceful that ^1/4th of the country is still illiterate. Today, India's literacy level is well below the world average literacy rate of 84"%. In comparison to other nations, India's education program is lagging far behind other nations and currently India has the largest illiterate population of any nation on the earth.

According to 2011 census, literacy rate of India is 74.04%.  Moreover, a wide gender disparity in the literacy rate can be observed as literacy rate for men was 82.14%, in comparison to 65.46% for women. The low female literacy rate in turn directly affects family planning and population stabilization efforts.  

Although over the years, the country's literacy rate has improved manifold, yet with the level far below the world average literacy, much is left desired. India's ten states and union territories, including Kerala, Lakshadweep. Mizoram, Tripura, Goa, Daman and Diu, Puducherry, Chandigarh, National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, have attained literacy rate of above 85 %, but states like Bihar, Jharkhand. Jammu & Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh faint in comparison.

While Kerala has the highest literacy rate at 93.91% followed by Lakshadweep at 92.28%, Bihar is at the lowest rung of the ladder with literacy rate of 63.82% followed by Arunachal Pradesh at 66.95%. It is an anomaly that Bihar, which gives large number of Civil Servants to the country, houses a vast population that cannot even read and write! Illiterate parents and parental attitudes, rampant corruption in Bihar's political and governmental setup to sustain reign by keeping the public illiterate and unaware, poor infrastructure, poor educational initiatives and rising population forms a vicious circle of non-progress and illiteracy.

Presently, India faces many hiccups that are an impediment to our desired literacy rate. Those living in rural areas are the biggest victims as rural schools operate in extremely poor conditions. While the lack of teachers creates many obstacles for children in rural schools, another setback is the lack of resources which becomes detrimental to the learning process. Lack of books and other reading materials; lack of proper infrastructure, basic amenities like toilets and electricity are other major problems.  Besides, the availability of high-tech devices such as computers is extremely rare.

In this regard, the govt. has taken a number of initiatives to provide free education programs to poor people living in villages and towns through setting up new schools and colleges. Several committees have been formed to ensure optimal utilization of funds to improve literacy rate. 21000 Crore has been allocated in the 2011 budget for Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan to accelerate the literacy drive in India. Through judicious use of allocated amount, the fortifying scale and the requisite quality of primary education can be achieved.

Literacy in India is a key to socio-economic development as it initiates awareness in people to work towards a better living- It is thus a starting point for modernization, urbanization, industrialization growth and commerce and advanced communication. To build a nation with strong social, economic and political foundations, Literacy is indispensable.