BENGALURU: As part of the mass education programme, the state government has planned to provide literacy to 3.2 lakh people across Karnataka in the next one month. The Department of Mass education is launching a Central government-sponsored campaign ‘Odhu Baraha’ (Padhna Likhna Abhiyan) on April 2 to reach the target of making 3.20 lakh people literate by May 2021.
Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar announced this during the review meeting of the department in Bengaluru on Monday.“The campaign will be held in 24 taluks and 219 village panchayats of Raichur, Yadgir, Kalaburagi, Vijayapura and Chamarajanagar districts,” the minister said. He informed that it aims at providing literacy to 2.4 lakh illiterate women between the age of 15 to 50 and 80,000 men. The campaign is aimed at ensuring that all youths and a substantial number of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy.
There will also be a basic assessment for these people after the completion of the campaign. They will be awarded with a certificate too. As per department data, till now, of the 1.26 crore illiterate people identified in the state, 57 lakh have become literate. “These people will be provided with skill training in the coming days,” said Suresh Kumar.
The scheme will have a flexible approach and will involve innovative methodologies such as involving school and college students and other volunteers for imparting basic literacy. Massive literacy drives/projects will be implemented in tribal and forest areas, slums, minority pockets/villages/blocks, prisons, etc. The minister directed officials to organise continuous literary programmes for village panchayat members who are illiterate, with the assistance from Rural development and Panchayat Raj Department.