New Delhi, January 17
Punjab and Himachal Pradesh have failed to make it to the first list of 19 states chosen by the government to start adult literacy classes under the all-new Sakshar Bharat Mission, which the Prime Minister launched in September last. Haryana wrested a lone project for Karnal, its only district that has a running adult literacy programme.

The mission, with a whopping budgetary support of $1 billion, seeks to educate 70 million illiterates by 2012; 60 million being women. Its first phase began two days ago in 167 districts of 19 states, which have, in the past, displayed commitment to adult literacy.

Sources in the Ministry of Human Resource Development said the selected states were the ones that continued to stress adult literacy even after the old National Literacy Mission (NLM) was disbanded. Some states like Punjab and Himachal neglected the sector, with none having any ongoing adult literacy component or programme. Haryana has just one such programme in Karnal.

“In Himachal, Chamba was eligible to be included, but it had no ongoing adult literacy project. It will now be included in the next phase next year. Haryana has got one project, thanks to Karnal,” sources said.

The idea is to strengthen existing capacities wherever these are. “We decided to first sanction Sakshar Bharat projects to the states that already have a capacity in the sector so that others can learn from their experience. The remaining states will be covered later. These are the ones where the adult literacy component is either weak or absent,” ministry officials said.

Importantly, the mission rolled this week in a record time of less than seven months since the President announced it during the joint session of Parliament last June. It aims to achieve 100 per cent literacy in 365 low literacy districts where adult female literacy rate is 50 per cent less as per the 2001 census. The final goal, however, is to take national literacy level from 64 per cent to 80 per cent by 2017, and reduce the gender gap from 21 to 10 per cent.In the first phase, Rajasthan has clinched the maximum number of projects for 31 districts. Close behind are Uttar Pradesh with projects for 26 districts, Andhra Pradesh 18, Gujarat 13 and Uttarakhand five.

Other states to be the first to experiment with the new adult literacy model, which will, for the first time, give certificates to learners after a third-party assessment/testing, are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Manipur, Orissa, Maharashtra, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, and West Bengal.

So far, Rs 305 crore has been sanctioned for the remaining part of the plan period to these states. The highest budget goes to Uttar Pradesh, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan.All listed states are ready to start classes and have prepared prototypes for the publication of new curricula under the mission. The focus will be on learning beyond reading, writing and arithmetic to include life skills and employment as part of adult literacy. The idea is to retain learners and not lose them to lack of post-literacy avenues.

Another thing that sets the Sakshar Bharat Mission apart from the NLM is its complete ownership with the gram panchayat. “The past programme was controlled by districts, which used to get certificates for compliance. Now the programme will be run and monitored by panchayats and learners will be the king,” sources said.