Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM calls for a societal movement for total female literacy on World Literacy Day

India has made great strides in the area of literacy in the decades since independence. This has happened due to concerted efforts by the Government and society, the path breaking work of social reform movements, non-government organizations and civil society action. While we have substantially increased the number of people who are literate we still have a large female non-literate population. We need to intensify our efforts in the direction of total female literacy which has the maximum multiplier efforts on development. It is the task of every literate Indian to contribute to this goal and is a collective challenge to be owned by both Government and society.

I am happy that citizens, panchayat representatives, nongovernmental organizations, private sector and social service organizations are all coming forward to address this challenge. Our collective re-dedication to the task of universal female literacy will ensure that India becomes the knowledge society that we seek to build to realize our potential in the new century.