Legal Rights: Saakshar Bharat to Curb Female Illiteracy in India

Education is every citizen’s legal right. In India, a majority of girls are not given education by their families. In South India, this problem is particularly high in the state of Karnataka. To solve this, the Government of India will launch the Saakshar Bharat scheme in Karnataka to curb female illiteracy.  To start with, this scheme will cover Karnataka’s 17 districts, that have low female literacy rates.

Karnataka’s districts that have below 50% female literacy rates will be covered under the scheme. The districts are Raichur (27.75 %), Bellary (37.09%), Bidar (37.67%), Mandya (42.45%), Gadag (43.39%), Belgaum (43.72%), Chitradurga (45.08%) and Koppal (30.17%). However, it is likely that three new districts namely Yadgir, Ramnagar, and Chikkaballapur, will be also included under scheme.

Legal Rights: Saakshar Bharat Scheme To Focus on Minority Groups

In the endeavor to ensure education as a legal right is properly implemented, the government remolded the National Literacy Mission as the National Female Literacy Mission. The purpose is to increase the literacy rate of females in the remaining part of the XI Five Year plan. The new scheme intends to impart functional education to illiterate girls, over 15 years of age.

Other groups that are benefited by the program are the SC, ST, minorities, adolescents, low literacy states, tribal areas and other unprivileged groups. The implementation of the scheme involves more activities such as:

• spreading massive awareness through cultural activities.
• conducting surveys.
• opening of learning centers.
• appointing training personnel.

Legal Rights: Saakshar Bharat Scheme To Span Five States

The Central Government will bear 75% of the total cost, while the rest, 25% will be borne by the State Government.  Moreover, the scheme will cover total 82 districts, with low female literacy rates, spanning five other states including Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh.

The district, block and gram panchayats will play a significant role, in planning and monitoring the scheme. This program will be implemented at the grassroots level as it will be implemented by the gram panchayats and at higher levels, through the respective Panchayat Raj entities.

At the State level, the Chief Minister of Karnataka will launch the scheme on August 7, 2010 in Doddaballapur. The Saakshar Bharat Scheme was launched by the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, on September 8, 2009. Through such female literacy schemes, it will be a positive step towards protecting education as a legal right and increasing the female literacy rate throughout the country.