In a unitary government, the central government possesses much authority and decision-

making power. Local governing bodies simply serve as administrative arms of the central
government. Great Britain is a familiar example of a unitary government; individual British
counties have little of the power commonly exercised by American states. France, with 90
departments grouped into 36 provinces, also has a unitary form of government. It is
important, however, to note that unitary governments are not inherently less democratic than
other forms.

In a federal government, power is split between a central government authority and its
constituent states. Usually, an overriding law of the land, known as a constitution, allocates
duties, rights, and privileges to each level of government. The constitution usually defines
how power is shared between national, state, and local governments; the power to amend
this constitution is usually granted to the citizens or their governmental representatives.
Federal vs. Unitary Governments

In a unitary government the power is held by one central authority but in a federal
government, the power is divided between national (federal) government and local (state)
governments. In recent years there has been a strong global trend toward federal
governments. Unitary systems have been sharply curtailed in a number of countries and
scrapped together in others. France is a good example of a nation-state that has a long
tradition of a unitary government in which a very strong national government dominates local
government decisions. Their basic form of governments consists of 96 departments that
each has an elected general council. The administrative head is elected by the national
government as opposed to being elected by the people. The French government has
granted additional legal powers to the departments and communes over recent years. Local
governments can now borrow money freely to finance local projects without government
approval. In a unitary government, the central government possesses much authority and
decision-making power. Local governing bodies simply serve as administrative arms of the
central government. Great Britain is a familiar example of a unitary government; individual
British counties have little of the power commonly exercised by American states. Places like
the United Kingdom, where England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have their own
internal governments are still subject to the laws created by the Parliament of the United
Kingdom. The devolved governments cannot challenge the constitutionality of acts of
Parliament, and the powers of the devolved governments can be revoked or reduced by the
central government (the Parliament with a government comprising the Cabinet, headed by
the Prime Minister).

In a federal government, power is split between a central government authority and its
constituent states. Usually, an overriding law of the land, known as a constitution, allocates
duties, rights, and privileges to each level of government. The constitution usually defines
how power is shared between national, state, and local governments. The United States is
considered the first modern federation. After declaring independence from Britain, the U.S.
adopted its first constitution, the Articles of Confederation in 1781. This was the first step
towards federalism by establishing the federal Congress. This is a government with strong
central powers.

Federal Versus Unitary Government
The government of any state is organized generally in two main ways: The unitary system or
the federal system. As more and more ethnicities move towards self-determinism,
governments restructure their system to transfer limited authority to regional or local
governments from the national government. In this sense, ethnicities can possess majority
control of a local unit of government without compromising a higher power.

Unitary State: Places most power in the hands of central government officials.
Federal State: Allocates strong power to units of local government within a country.

What also must be taken into consideration is that a countrys cultural and physical
characteristics influence the type of government that is in existence. An example would be a
theocratic government, which is a government based on religion and the law provided. This
type of government is in existence in many Middle Eastern countries because the religion
that is dominant there encompasses directional law that covers all aspects of life including
the system of government.

Federal government
Federal Government System: This type of government system distributes power from the
national government to local governments in order to adopt their own laws within reason of
the country. Multinational states tend to adopt a federal system of government to empower
different nationalities and avoid political instability. Under a federal system, local government
boundaries can be drawn to encompass a region inhabited by a certain ethnicity. The federal
system also works effectively for larger states because the capital may be too far away to
efficiently control further regions. However the size of state does not always reveal its type of
government because Belgium for example, is a small country with a federal system for the
purpose of managing two majority ethnicities. Another example would be the large state of
China, which has a unitary government to spread and diffuse Communist values.
* Has multiple hierarchy levels, with both the central authority and the states (or provinces)
both being sovereign.
* The central (national) rules override the state rules
* Has a balance between them. (The US)
* Shared between national and local levels. In a federal form of government, the term
"federal" is also used to refer to the national level of government.

Federal Government
-a government with strong central powers
-Allows much authority
-Goes along with a multi national state
-Power is diffused
-Gives more power to local territories/ provinces to make rules/laws
-The U.S. has a federal government
-Students of federal governments will note that within a basic federal political system, there
are two or more levels of government that exist within an established territory and govern
through common institutions with overlapping or shared powers as prescribed by a
constitution.

Unitary government
Unitary Government System: This type of government system works best in nation-states
where few cultural differences exist within the state and a strong sense of national pride and
unity is prevalent. Since the power is centralized in a unitary system, there must be efficient
communication throughout the country, therefore smaller states tend to have unitary
government systems. Governments of this type are common in Europe. Although typically
nation-states tend to have a unitary system in place, multi-national states have also had a
unitary system in the past. When a unitary system exists in a multinational state, it is often
predictable that values and beliefs of one nationality are imposed over the lesser ones.
When Communist parties controlled government, many Eastern European countries had
unitary systems to spread and promote diffusion of Communist values.
* There is no hierarchy of sovereign powers.
* States have no authority to pass their own laws, and the central (national) government can
order the states to do anything. (Just like a state can order a town to do anything, because
the town is not sovereign.)
* The federal government has a huge percentage of the power. (Japan)

Unitary
-Government system
-Central government possesses most of the authority
-Uniformly applied
-Tends to be dictatorship/totalitarianism
-France is a unitary government but is democratic
-Power is centrally concentrated
-Little to no provincial authority
-Major decisions are made by the central government
-Tends to go along with nation-state
-A unitary state is a country whose three organs of state are governed as one single unit.
-In a unitary state, any sub-governmental units can be created or abolished, and have their
powers varied, by the central government.
-A unitary state can broaden and narrow the functions of such devolved governments
without formal agreement from the affected bodies.

Nation vs. Multinational State
Nation-State?
-The nation-state is a certain form of state that derives its legitimacy from serving as a
sovereign entity for a nation as a sovereign territorial unit.
-a specific form of state, which exists to provide a sovereign territory for a particular nation
and which derives its legitimacy from that function.
-Minimizes conflict and makes for stronger states
-Organized by race or cultural background
- On the other hand, there are strong states with sizeable minorities
-a single nation comprises the bulk of the population
- Examples: Japan, Denmark, and Poland
-The term "nation-state" implies that the two geographically coincide, and this distinguishes
the nation state from the other types of state, which historically preceded it.
-Has different attitudes to their territory and other territory
-has defined borders and territories
-cannot exist when there is a defined ethnic and cultural group that exists without territorial
borders.

Multinational State
-A state in which consists of two or more ethnically distinct nations of significant size
-Contrast with nation-state
-Majority of population is not ethnically homogenous
-China and India are the two largest multinational states in the world; having more than a
billion peoples each.
-Examples: UK of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland


Supranationalism
-Definition: The tendency for states to give up political power to a higher authority in pursuit
of common objectives. (Political, Economic, Military, Environmentally)
- Method of decision-making in multi-national political communities, wherein power is
transferred to an authority broader than governments of member states.
- A supranational authority, by definition, can have some independence from member state
governments, although not as much independence as with federal governments.
-Organizations that take part in supranationalism: EU, EEC, Common market, Benelux,
NAFTA, ASEAN, UN, NATO, Warsaw Pact, League of Nations, Arab League, SEATO, OAS,
CARICOM, ACS, Andean Group, MERCOSUR, AU, ECOWAS, APEC, CIS, OPEC,
NORDEN, Central American Common Market
-The USSR, East and West Germany, and the United Kingdom are NOT supranationalist
organizations.
-Supranationalism has had a great effect on most European countries. Some of the changes
that have been brought upon
These countries are as follows:
1. Larger markets (greater trade, free trade, reduced tariffs, greater economic property)
2. Greater international influence (greater political/economic power, greater ability to
compete
To compete with economies of other countries
3. Open borders (labor, tourists)
4. Common Currency
5. Common policy {resources, agriculture, economic,
Environment, trade, military)
Loss of controls over individual policy
-Another method of decision-making in international organizations is intergovernmental, in
which state governments play a more prominent role.

Devolution
-Definition: The process whereby regions within a state demand and gain political strength
and growing autonomy at the expense of the central government.
-The process in which sub-government units and/or national or regional parliaments are
created by a central government.
- The statutory granting of powers from the central government of a state to government at a
subnational level, such as a regional, local, or state level.
- The devolution can be mainly financial, e.g. giving areas a budget which was formerly
administered by central government.
-The breakup of a state, which is the process of balkanization.
-Europe is one of the places that have changed through devolution as well. The results were
as follows:
1. Formation of new states/governments
2. More power to regions
3. Political instability (civil war, fighting, hostility, conflict, etc.)
4. Mass migration
-Examples of devolution:
1. Balkanization in Yugoslavia/ Balkans
2. Demand for greater autonomy (required I.D. of internal units or groups) in countries within
the U.K., Belgium, Canada, Spain, Italy, France, U.S., India, and Pakistan.

Literacy in India is key for socio-economic progress,
[1]
and the Indian literacy rate grew to
74.04% in 2011 from 12% at the end ofBritish rule in 1947.
[2][3]
Although this was a greater
than sixfold improvement, the level is well below the world average literacy rate of
84%,
[4]
and of all nations, India currently has the largest illiterate population.
[5]
Despite
government programmes, India's literacy rate increased only "sluggishly,"
[6]
and a 1990
study estimated that it would take until 2060 for India to achieve universal literacy at then-
current rate of progress.
[7]
The 2011 census, however, indicated a 20012011 decadal
literacy growth of 9.2%, which is the slower than the growth seen during the previous
decade.
There is a wide gender disparity in the literacy rate in India: effective literacy rates (age 7
and above) in 2011 were 82.14% for men and 65.46% for women.
[8]
The low female literacy
rate has had a dramatically negative impact on family planning and population stabillisation
efforts in India. Studies have indicated that female literacy is a strong predictor of the use of
contraception among married Indian couples, even when women do not otherwise have
economic independence.
[9]
The census provided a positive indication that growth in female
literacy rates (11.8%) was substantially faster than in male literacy rates (6.9%) in the 2001
2011 decadal period, which means the gender gap appears to be narrowing.
Comparative literacy statistics

The table below shows the adult and youth literacy rates for India and some neighbouring
countries in 2002.
[11]
Adult literacy rate is based on the 15+ years age group, while Youth
literacy rate is for the 1524 years age group (i.e. youth is a subset of adults).
Country Adult Literacy Rate Youth Literacy Rate
China 95.9% (2009)
[12]
99.4% (2009)
[13]

Sri Lanka 90.8 (2007) 98.0
Burma 89.9% (2007)
[14]
94.4% (2004)
[15]

Iran 82.4% (2007)
[16]
95% (2002)
[17]

World Average 84% (1998)
[4]
88% (2001)
[18]

India 74.04% (2011)
[19]
82% (2011)
[3]

Nepal 56.5% (2007) 62.7%
Pakistan 62.2% (2007)
[20]
73.9% (2010)
Bangladesh 53.5% (2007) 74%
Reasons for low literacy rate
The absence of adequate school infrastructure like improper facilities and inefficient teaching
staff is one of the main factors affecting literacy in India. There is a shortage of classrooms
to accommodate all the students in 20062007.
[21]
In addition, there is no proper sanitation in
most schools. The study of 188 government-run primary schools in central and northern
India revealed that 59% of the schools had no drinking water facility and 89% no toilets.
[22]
In
600,000 villages and multiplying urban slum habitats, 'free and compulsory education' is the
basic literacy instruction dispensed by barely qualified 'para teachers'.
[23]
The average Pupil
Teacher Ratio for All India is 1:42, implying teacher shortage.
[24]
Such inadequacies resulted
in a non-standardized school system where literacy rates may differ.
[23]
Furthermore, the
expenditure allocated to education was never above 4.3% of the GDP from 19512002
despite the target of 6% by the Kothari Commission.
[25]
This further complicates the literacy
problem in India.
Severe caste disparities also exist.
[23]
Discrimination of lower castes has resulted in high
dropout rates and low enrolment rates. The National Sample Survey Organisation and the
National Family Health Survey collected data in India on the percentage of children
completing primary school which are reported to be only 36.8% and 37.7%
respectively.
[26]
On 21 February 2005, the Prime Minister of India said that he was pained to
note that only 47 out of 100 children enrolled in class I reach class VIII, putting the dropout
rate at 52.78 per cent.
[24]
It is estimated that at least 35 million, and possibly as many as 60
million, children aged 614 years are not in school.
[23]

Absolute poverty in India has also deterred the pursuit of formal education as education is
not deemed of as the highest priority among the poor as compared to other basic
necessities. The MRP-based (mixed recall period) poverty estimates of about 22% of
poverty in 200405 which translated to 22 out of per 100 people are not meeting their basic
needs, much less than meeting the need for education.
[27]

The large proportion of illiterate females is another reason for the low literacy rate in India.
Inequality based on gender differences resulted in female literacy rates being lower at
65.46% than that of their male counterparts at 82.14%.
[28]
Due to strong stereotyping of
female and male roles, Sons are thought of to be more useful and hence are educated.
Females are pulled to help out on agricultural farms at home as they are increasingly
replacing the males on such activities which require no formal education.
[29]
Fewer than 2%
of girls who engaged in agriculture work attended school.




Growth of literacy
The British Period


Literacy in India grew very slowly until independence in 1947. An acceleration in the rate of
literacy growth occurred in the 19912001 period.
Prior to the British era, education in Indian commenced under the supervision of a guru in
traditional schools called gurukuls.The gurukuls were supported by public donation and were
one of the earliest forms of public school offices. However these Gurukuls catered only to
the Upper castes of the Indian society and the overwhelming masses were denied any
formal education.
In the colonial era, the gurukul system began to decline as the system promoted by the
British began to gradually take over. Between 188182 and 194647, the number of English
primary schools grew from 82,916 to 134,866 and the number of students in English Schools
grew from 2,061,541 to 10,525,943. Literacy rates in accordance to British in India rose from
3.2 per cent in 1881 to 7.2 per cent in 1931 and 12.2 per cent in 1947.
[2]

In 200001, there were 60,840 pre-primary and pre-basic schools, and 664,041 primary and
junior basic schools.
[30]
Total enrolment at the primary level has increased from 19,200,000
in 195051 to 109,800,000 in 200102.
[31]
The number of high schools in 200001 was
higher than the number of primary schools at the time of independence.
[2][30]

In 1944, the Government of British India presented a plan, called the Sergeant Scheme for
the educational reconstruction of India, with a goal of producing 100% literacy in the country
within 40 years, i.e. by 1984.
[32]
Although the 40-year time-frame was derided at the time by
leaders of theIndian independence movement as being too long a period to achieve
universal literacy,
[32]
India had only just crossed the 74% level by the 2011 census.

Post Independence
The provision of universal and compulsory education for all children in the age group of 614
was a cherished national ideal and had been given overriding priority by incorporaton as
a Directive Policy in Article 45 of the Constitution, but it is still to be achieved more than half
a century since the Constitution was adopted in 1949. Parliament has passed the
Constitution 86th Amendment Act, 2002, to make elementary education a Fundamental
Right for children in the age group of 614 years.
[33]
In order to provide more funds for
education, an education cess of 2 per cent has been imposed on all direct and indirect
central taxes through the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2004.
[34]

The literacy rate grew from 18.33 per cent in 1951, to 28.30 per cent in 1961, 34.45 per cent
in 1971, 43.57 per cent in 1981, 52.21 per cent in 1991, 64.84 per cent in 2001 and 74.04
per cent in 2011.
[35]
During the same period, the population grew from 361 million to 1,210
million.
Literacy rate variations between states


The literacy rates of different Indian states in 2001 and 2011.
Kerala is the most literate state in India, with 93.91% literacy, followed by Lakshadweep at
92.28%. Bihar is the least literate state in India, with a literacy of 63.82%.
[36]
Several other
social indicators of the two states are correlated with these rates, such as life expectancy at
birth (71.61 for males and 75 for females in Kerala, 65.66 for males and 64.79 for females in
Bihar), infant mortality per 1,000 live births (10 in Kerala, 61 in Bihar), birth rate per 1,000
people (16.9 in Kerala, 30.9 in Bihar) and death rate per 1,000 people (6.4 in Kerala, 7.9 in
Bihar).
[37]

Every census since 1881 had indicated rising literacy in the country, but the population
growth rate had been high enough that the absolute number of illiterates rose with every
decade. The 20012011 decade is the second census period (after the 19912001 census
period) when the absolute number of Indian illiterates declined (by 31,196,847 people),
indicating that the literacy growth rate is now outstripping the population growth rate.
[38]

[Bihar]is the only remaining Indian state in the 2011 census where less than 65% of the
population was literate.
[38]
It is also only one of two states where less than 75% of the male
population (the other being Arunachal Pradesh) was literate and only one of two states
where less than 55% of the female population (the other being Rajasthan) was literate.
[38]
Six
Indian states account for about 70% of all illiterates in India: Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya
Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.
[39]
Slightly less than half of all Indian
illiterates (48.12%) are in the six Hindi-speaking states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan,
Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand andChhattisgarh.
[39]

Large variations in literacy exist even between contiguous states. While there are few states
at the top and bottom, most states are just above or below the national average.
Learnings from State Literacy Efforts in India
Several states in India have executed successful programmes to boost literacy rates. Over
time, a set of factors have emerged as being key to success: official will to succeed,
deliberate steps to engage the community in administering the programne, adequate funding
for infrastructure and teachers, and provisioning additional services which are considered
valuable by the community (such as free school lunches).
Bihar Literacy Challenges
Bihar has significantly raised the literacy rate as per the 2011 census. The literacy rate has
risen from 39% in 1991 to 47% in 2001 to 63.8% in 2011.
[38]
The Government of Bihar has
launched several programmes to boost literacy, and its Department of Adult Education even
won a UNESCO award in 1981.
[40]

Extensive impoverishment, entrenched hierarchical social divisions and the lack of
correlation between educational attainment and job opportunities are often cited in studies of
the hurdles literacy programmes face in Bihar. Children from "lower castes" are frequently
denied school attendance and harassed when they do attend.
[41]
In areas where there is no
discrimination, poor funding and impoverished families means that children often cannot
afford textbooks and stationery.
[41]

When children do get educated, the general lack of economic progress in the state means
that government jobs are the only alternative to farm labour, yet these jobs, in practice,
require bribes to secure which poorer families cannot afford.
[41]
This leads to educated
youths working on the farms, much as uneducated ones do, and leads parents to question
the investment of sending children to school in the first place.
[41]
Bihar's government schools
have also faced teacher absenteeism, leading the state government to threaten withholding
of salaries of teachers who failed to conduct classes on a regular basis.
[42]
To incentivise
students to attend, the government announced a Rupee 1 per school-day grant to poor
children who show up at school.
[42]

Kerala literacy successes
Kerala has the highest literacy rate among the states of India, followed by the state
of Mizoram. Kerala topped the Education Development Index (EDI) among 21 major states
in India in year 20062007.[143] More than 94% of the rural population has access to
primary school within 1 km, while 98% of population benefits one school within a distance of
2 km. An upper primary school within a distance of 3 km is available for more than 96% of
the people, whose 98% benefit the facility for secondary education within 8 km. The access
for rural students to higher educational institutions in cities is facilitated by widely subsidised
transport fares. Kerala's educational system has been developed by institutions owned or
aided by the government. In the educational system prevailed in the state, schooling is for 10
years which is subdivided into lower primary, upper primary and high school. After 10 years
of secondary schooling, students typically enroll in Higher Secondary Schooling in one of the
three major streamsliberal arts, commerce or science. Upon completing the required
coursework, students can enroll in general or professional undergraduate
programmes. Kerala undertook a "campaign for total literacy" in Ernakulam district in the late
1980s, with a "fusion between the district administration headed by its Collector on one side
and, on the other side, voluntary groups, social activists and others".
[43]
On 4 February 1990,
. The Government of Kerala then replicated the initiative on a statewide level, launching the
Kerala State Literacy Campaign.
[43]
First, households were surveyed with door-to-door,
multistage survey visits to form an accurate picture of the literacy landscape and areas that
needed special focus. Then, Kala Jthas (cultural troupes) and Sksharata Pada
Ytras (Literacy Foot Marches) were organised to generate awareness of the campaign and
create a receptive social atmosphere for the programme.
[43]
An integrated management
system was created involving state officials, prominent social figures, local -officials and
senior voluntary workers to oversee the execution of the campaign.
[43]

Himachal Pradesh literacy successes

Strong government action and community support made Himachal Pradeshone of India's
most literate states by 2001
Himachal Pradesh underwent a "Schooling Revolution" in the 19612001 period that has
been called "even more impressive than Kerala's."
[44]
Keralahas led the nation in literacy
rates since the 19th century and seen sustained initiatives for over 150 years, whereas
Himachal Pradesh's literacy rates in 1961 were below the national average in every age
group.
[44]
In the three decadal 19611991 period, female literacy in the 1519 years age
group went from 11% to 86%.
[44]
School attendance for both boys and girls in the 614-year
age group stood at over 97% each when measured in the 199899 school year.
[44]

A key factor that has been credited for these advances is Himachal's cultural background.
Himachal Pradesh is a Himalayan state with lower social stratification than many other
states, which enables social programmes to be carried out more smoothly. Once the
Government of Himachal Pradesh was able to establish a social norm that "schooling is an
essential part of every child's upbringing," literacy as a normal attribute of life was adopted
very rapidly.
[44]
Government efforts in expanding schools and providing teachers were
sustained after the 1960s and communities often responded very collaboratively, including
with constructing school rooms and providing firewood essential during the Himalayan
winters.
[44]

Mizoram literacy successes
Mizoram is the second most literate state in all of India, second only to Kerala, with Serchhip
and Aizawl districts being the two most literate districts in India (literacy rate is 98.76% and
98.50%),both in Mizoram
[38]
Mizoram's literacy rate rose rapidly after independence: from
31.14% in 1951 to 88.80% in 2001.
[45]
As in Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram has a social
structure that is relatively free of hierarchy and strong official intent to produce total
literacy.
[46]
The government identified illiterates and organised an administrative structure
that engaged officials and community leaders, and manned by "animators" who were
responsible for teaching five illiterates each.
[47]
Mizoram established 360 continuing
education centres to handle continued education beyond the initial literacy teaching and to
provide an educational safety net for school drop-outs.
[47]

Tamil Nadu literacy successes
Tamil Nadu is the most literate state of India according to the HRD ministry of India's 2003
statistics. One of the pioneers of the scheme is the Madras that started providing cooked
meals to children in corporation schools in the Madras city in 1923.The programme was
introduced in a large scale in 1960s under the Chief Ministership of K. Kamaraj.The first
major thrust came in 1982 when Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Dr. M. G. Ramachandran,
decided to universalise the scheme for all children up to class 10.Tamil Nadu's midday meal
programme is among the best known in the country.
[48]
Starting in 1982, Tamil Nadu took an
approach to promoting literacy based on free lunches for schoolchildren, "ignoring cynics
who said it was an electoral gimmick and economists who said it made little fiscal
sense."
[49]
The then chief minister of Tamil Nadu, MGR launched the programme, which
resembled a similar initiative in 19th century Japan, because "he had experienced as a child
what it was like to go hungry to school with the family having no money to buy food".
[49]

Eventually, the programme covered all children under the age of 15, as well as pregnant
women for the first four months of their pregnancy. Tamil Nadu's literacy rate rose from
54.4% in 1981 to 80.3% in 2011.
[49]
In 2001, the Supreme Court of India instructed all state
governments to implement free school lunches in all government-funded schools, but
implementation has been patchy due to corruption and social issues.
[49]
Despite these
hurdles, 120 million receive free lunches in Indian schools every day, making it the largest
school meal program in the world.
[50]

Rajasthan literacy successes
Although the decadal rise from 200111 was only 7% (60.4% in 2001 to 67.1% in
2011)Rajasthan had the biggest percentage decadal (19912001) increase in literacy of all
Indian states, from about 38% to about 61%, a leapfrog that has been termed "spectacular"
by some observers.
[51]
Aggressive state government action, in the form of the District
Primary Education Programme, theShiksha Karmi initiative and the Lok
Jumbish programme, are credited with the rapid improvement.
[52]
Virtually every village in
Rajasthan now has primary school coverage.
[51]
When statehood was granted to Rajasthan
in 1956, it was the least literate state in India with a literacy rate of 18%.
[52]

Social commentary
Apart from above, the corporate sector in India has pitched in with the aim of improving
literacy, primarily in villages around their factories.For example J K group has helped so far
29,000 plus citizens of India, mostly village women, to move towards literacy which means
being able to sign their name / read sign boards & handle money, in local languages in eight
different states. TATA group claims to have added 175,000 literates using their Computer
Based Functional Literacy (CBFL) method.
Literacy efforts
The right to education is a fundamental right,
[53]
and UNESCO aims at education for all by
2015.
[53]
India, along with the Arab states and sub-Saharan Africa, has a literacy level below
the threshold level of 75%, but efforts are on to achieve that level. The campaign to achieve
at least the threshold literacy level represents the largest ever civil and military mobilisation
in the country.
[54]
International Literacy Day is celebrated each year on 8 September with the
aim to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies.
Government schemes
National Literacy Mission
The National Literacy Mission, launched in 1988, aimed at attaining a literacy rate of 75 per
cent by 2007. It imparts functional literacy to non-literates in the age group of 1535 years.
The Total Literacy Campaign is the principal strategy of the NLM for eradication of illiteracy.
The Continuing Education Scheme provides a learning continuum to the efforts of the Total
Literacy and Post literacy programmes.
[33]

The Census 2001 provisional reports indicate that India has made significant progress in the
field of literacy during the decade since the previous census in 1991.The literacy rate in 2001
has been recorded at 64.84% as against 52.21% in 1991.The 12.63 percentage points
increase in the literacy rate during the period is the highest increase in any decade.Also for
the first time there is a decline in the absolute number of non-literates during the past 10
years.The total number of non literates has come down from 328 million in 1991 to 304
million in 2001.During 1991-2000, the population in 7+ age group increased by 176 millions
while 201 million additional persons became literate during that period.Out of 864 million
people above the age of 7 years, 560 million are now literates.Three-fourths of our male
population and more than half of the female population are literate.This indeed is an
encouraging indicator for us to speed up our march towards the goal of achieving a
sustainable threshold literacy rate of 75% by 2007. The Census 2001 provisional figures
also indicate that the efforts of the nation during the past decade to remove the scourge of
illiteracy have not gone in vain.The eradication of illiteracy from a vast country like India
beset by several social and economic hurdles is not an easy task.Realising this the National
Literacy Mission was set up on 5th May,1988 to impart a new sense of urgency and
seriousness to adult education.After the success of the areas specific,time bound, voluntary
based campaign approach first in Kottayam city and then in Ernakulum district in Kerala in
1990,the National Literacy Mission had accepted the literacy campaigns as the dominant
strategy for eradication of illiteracy. Out of 600 districts in the country,597 districts have
already been covered under Total Literacy Campaigns.The number of continuing education
districts is 328.The creditable performance of the National Literacy Mission received
international recognition when it was awarded the UNESCO Noma Literacy Prize for
1999.The International Jury while selecting NLM for the prize recognised its initiation of the
Total Literacy Campaigns and also its efforts in galvanising activities towards integration,
conservation of the environment,promotion of women's equality,and the preservation of
family customs and traditions.The Jury also appreciated the training imparted by NLM,the
teaching learning material produced by it and the awareness created by it for the demand for
raising both the quality and quantity of primary education.The Bureau of Adult Education and
National Literacy Mission under the Department of School Education and Literacy of the
Ministry of Human Resource Development functions as the Secretariat of the National
Literacy Mission Authority.The General Council of the NLMA is headed by the Minister of
Human Resource Development and the Executive Council is headed by the Secretary
(Elementary Education and Literacy).The Directorate of Adult Education provides necessary
technical and resource support to the NLMA.The National Literacy Mission was revitalised
with the approval of the Union Government on 30th September, 1999.The Mission's goal is
to attain total literacy i.e. a sustainable threshold literacy rate of 75% by 2007.The Mission
seeks to achieve this by imparting functional literacy to non-literates in the 15-35 age
group.To tackle the problem of residual illiteracy,now it has been decided to adopt an
integrated approach to Total Literacy Campaigns and Post Literacy Programme. This means
the basic literacy campaigns and post literacy programmes will be implemented under one
literacy project called 'Literacy Campaigns an Operation Restoration' to achieve
continuity,efficiency and convergence and to minimise unnecessary time lag between the
two.Post literacy programmes are treated only as a preparatory phase for launching
Continuing Education with the ultimate aim of creating a learning society.In order to promote
decentralization,the State Literacy Mission Authorities have been given the authority to
sanction continuing education projects to Districts and literacy related projects to voluntary
agencies in their States.The scheme of Jan Shikshan Sansthan or Institute of People's
Education ,previously known as the Scheme of Shramik Vidyapeeth was initially evolved as
a non-formal continuing education programme to respond to the educational and vocational
training needs of adults and young people living in urban and industrial areas and for
persons who had migrated from rural to urban settings.Now the Institutes' activities have
been enlarged and infrastructure strengthened to enable them to function as district level
repositories of vocational and technical skills in both urban and rural areas.At present there
are 221 Jan Shikshan Sansthans in the India.
Ever since its inception the National Literacy Mission has taken measures to strengthen its
partnership with NGOs and to evolve both institutional and informal mechanisms to give
voluntary organisations active promotional role in the literacy movement.Now under the
scheme of Support to NGOs they are encouraged and provided with financial assistance to
run post literacy and continuing education programmes in well defined areas.In order to
revitalise,re-energise and expand the role of State Resource Centres,not only their number
is being increased but also their infrastructure and resource facilities are being strengthened
to enable them to play the role of catalytic agents in adult education.There are 25 State
Resource Centres working across the country.They are mainly responsible for organising
training programmes for literacy functionaries in the State and to prepare literacy material in
local languages.The Directorate of Adult Education ,a sub-ordinate office of the Department
of School Education and Literacy has been entrusted with the task ofmonitoring and
evaluating the various literacy programmes being launched under the aegis of the National
Literacy Mission.It also provides technical and resource support to the NLM including media
support to enable it to achieve its objectives.
The National Literacy Mission is laying great stress on vigorous monitoring and systematic
evaluation of adult education programmes launched under its aegis in the country.It has
developed and circulated guidelines for concurrent and final evaluation of the Total Literacy
Campaigns and Post Literacy Programmes. A comprehensive set of guidelines on
continuing education have also been prepared.So far about 424 Total Literacy Campaign
districts and 176 Post Literacy districts have been evaluated by the external evaluation
agencies.So far 32 districts have been externally evaluated during continuing education
phase.It is hoped that the new approach of evaluating literacy campaigns and Continuing
Education Schemes will ensure complete transparency and enhance the credibility of the
results and impact assessments.


Sarva Siksha Abhiyan
The Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (Hindi for Total Literacy Campaign) was launched in 2001 to
ensure that all children in the 614-year age-group attend school and complete eight years
of schooling by 2010. An important component of the scheme is the Education Guarantee
Scheme and Alternative and Innovative Education, meant primarily for children in areas with
no formal school within a one kilometre radius. The centrally sponsored District Primary
Education Programme, launched in 1994, had opened more than 160,000 new schools by
2005, including almost 84,000 alternative schools.
[33]

Non-governmental efforts
The bulk of Indian illiterates live in the country's rural areas, where social and economic
barriers play an important role in keeping the lowest strata of society illiterate. Government
programmes alone, however well intentioned, may not be able to dismantle barriers built
over centuries. Major social reformation efforts are sometimes required to bring about a
change in the rural scenario. Several non-governmental organisations such as Pratham,
ITC, Rotary Club, Lions Club have worked to improve the literacy rate in India.
Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation
Shantha Sinha won a Magsaysay Award in 2003 in recognition of "her guiding the people of
Andhra Pradesh to end the scourge of child labour and send all of their children to school."
As head of an extension programme at the University of Hyderabad in 1987, she organised
a three-month-long camp to prepare children rescued from bonded labour to attend school.
Later, in 1991, she guided her family's Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation to take up
this idea as part of its overriding mission in Andhra Pradesh. Her original transition camps
grew into full-fledged residential "bridge schools." The foundation's aim is to create a social
climate hostile to child labour, child marriage and other practices that deny children the right
to a normal childhood. Today the MV Foundation's bridge schools and programmes extend
to 4,300 villages.
[55]

Definition of literacy
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has drafted
a definition of literacy as the "ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate,
compute and use printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy
involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop
their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider
society."
[56]

The National Literacy Mission defines literacy as acquiring the skills of reading, writing and
arithmetic and the ability to apply them to one's day-to-day life. The achievement of
functional literacy implies (i) self-reliance in 3 R's, (ii) awareness of the causes of deprivation
and the ability to move towards amelioration of their condition by participating in the process
of development, (iii) acquiring skills to improve economic status and general well being, and
(iv) imbibing values such as national integration, conservation of environment, women's
equality, observance of small family norms.
The working definition of literacy in the Indian census since 1991 is as follows:
[57]

Literacy rate: The total percentage of the population of an area at a particular time aged
seven years or above who can read and write with understanding. Here the denominator
is the population aged seven years or more.
Crude literacy rate: The total percentage of the people of an area at a particular time
aged seven years or above who can read and write with understanding, taking the total
population of the area (including below seven years of age) as the denominator.