The government’s flagship schemes Swachh Bharat (clean India) and Sakshar Bharat (literate India) are two sides of the same coin, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Thursday.

“You can’t have awareness in the minds of boys and girls unless they are made aware of their responsibilities,” Mukherjee said at an event here to mark the occasion of International Literacy Day.

Though efforts have been undertaken in imparting literacy, still India continues to have a large illiterate population. The literacy rate was 18 per cent in 1951 and increased to 73 per cent in 2011, according to census. The gender differential was 25 percentage points in 1961 and reduced to 16 percentage points in 2011.

“Substantial progress has been made for female literacy, but it is still not at par with male literacy,” the President added.

Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar in his address said that children are catalysts of change and can drive literacy similar to how they are promoting Swachh Bharat mission.

“India has 27 crore students in the school and higher education space, at the same time 28 crore adults are not literate,” said Javadekar said. “While laying emphasis on literacy, there are other things which are closely related such as cleanliness, environmental consciousness, inculcating civilisational values. These must be pursued together,” said Mukherjee.

In order to generate momentum and achieve ‘literacy for all’, joint efforts need to be taken by the government, NGOs, local bodies and volunteers, etc.

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