0.3123
7667766266
x
x
  1. Home
  2. CURRENT AFFAIRS
  3. GS III
  4. HIMACHAL PRADESH - ‘FULLY LITERATE’ STATE

Himachal Pradesh - ‘fully literate’ state

iasparliament Logo
September 13, 2025

Prelims: Current events of national and international importance

Why in news?

The Union Education Minister in a virtual address at an event to mark the International Literacy Day said, Himachal Pradesh was declared to be a ‘fully literate’ state.

  • Himachal Pradesh has become the 4th state to achieve full functional literacy.

Other states that achieved full literacy were Tripura, Mizoram, Goa and Ladakh (first Union Territory).

  • Definition of Literacy – Ministry of Education defined literacy as the ability to read, write, and compute with comprehension i.e to identify, understand, interpret and create, along with critical life skills such as digital literacy, financial literacy etc.
  • It is also defined ‘full literacy’ as “achieving 95% literacy in a State/UT”.
  • Literacy status in India –
    • For the 2011 Census, any person aged seven and above who can read and write with understanding in any language was considered literate.
    • According to the 2011 Census, among women, the literacy rate was 64.6%, while for men it was 80.9%.
    • The adult literacy for those ages 15 and above for which the national figure was 69.3%.

ULLAS program
  • ULLAS - Understanding Lifelong Learning for All in Society.
  • It is a literacy program for people over 15 who may not have attended school.
  • Launched in – 2022.
  • Aim - To achieve 100% literacy by 2030, which is one the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
  • It also in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 which calls for adult literacy to achieve 100% literacy.
  • Under the program, adult learners are taught basic reading, writing, and math (arithmetic like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) that a child in school would learn up to class 3.
  • Training is provided either through a mobile app or offline, by students or community volunteers.
  • After that, the Functional Literacy Numeracy Assessment Test (FLNAT), a 150-mark reading, writing and numeracy test, is administered in a person’s chosen language.
  • On passing the test, the learner is certified by the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) as having acquired foundational literacy and numeracy.

Quick facts

International Literacy Day

  • It is celebrated each year on 8th of September.
  • It was declared by UNESCO.
  • Theme for 2025 - “Promoting Literacy in the Digital Era”.

References

  1. The Hindu | Himachal Pradesh Becomes fully literate state
  2.  NDTV | Himachal Pradesh Becomes fully literate state
Login or Register to Post Comments
There are no reviews yet. Be the first one to review.

ARCHIVES

MONTH/YEARWISE ARCHIVES

sidetext
Free UPSC Interview Guidance Programme
sidetext