APPENDIX `G' MEMORANDUM ON ITEM 9 : TO CONSIDER THE NEED TO PLAN FOR ADULT LITERACY AND FOR INCREASE OF TEMPO OF WORK
The pace of the effort for removal of illiteracy has indeed been very slow so far. With all the effort on elementary education and with the contribution of the Adult Literacy programme within the meagre resources made available for it, it has been possible to raise the percentage of literacy from 16.6 in 1951 to 24 in 1961. The rise in percentage is thus about 7.4 only. The population of India, according to the 1961 census is about 44 crores. Within that, the illiterate population would now be of the order of 33 crores. Out of this, the illiterate population within the adult age-group 14-40 years is estimated to be about 20 crores. The magnitude of the problem is evident when we take this big population into account.
2. Before the Five Year Plans were introduced, the responsi- bility for removal of illiteracy was with the Education Departments of the State Governments and the Ministry of Education. After 1952, the major responsibility for removal of illiteracy went to the then Community Projects Administration which is now the Ministry of Community Development and Co-operation. Literary work was included as an essential part of social education in the Community Development Programme. Though attention was focussed on literacy work in the Community Development programme during the period of the First Five Year Plan, later on the importance of literacy work seems to have dwindled. This resulted in the slackening of the pace of literacy work in the Second Five Year Plan period, and the position today is much the same as before.
3. The Third Five Year Plan takes note of this lag in literacy work and mentions that the literacy aspect of social education, which in some ways is the most important, has caused concern. It is further noted that sufficient progress has not been achieved so far in this direction.
4. Following up the suggestions in the Third Five Year Plan, an Adult Literacy programme was discussed at the Development Conference at Hyderabad in July, 1961. The recommendations of that Conference were sent by the Ministry of Education to the Education Secretaries and by the Ministry of Community Development & Cooperation to the Development Commissioners of the State Governments.
5. The State Governments were requested to examine these re- commendations and to prepare a Plan for the effective promotion of Adult Literacy programme. The above communication was followed by another communication from the Ministry of Education dated 22nd September, 1962. The Planning Commission had given an assurance that additional resources required for the Literary and Adult
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Education programme will be provided over and above the ceilings fixed. The State Governments and Union Territories were accordingly requested to formulate detailed programmes for Adult Literacy and Education for the period 1962-63 to 1965-66. It, was desired that such programmes should be drawn up immediately and included in the Annual Plan Budgets of the Education Departments of State Governments and Union Territories for 1962-63 and subsequent years.
6. The following suggestions were also made (a) The programme for Adult Literacy and Education will not be effective, unless the Education Departments of the State Governments and Union Territories fully and squarely accept the responsibility of carrying on the Adult Education programme. The bifurcation of responsibilities as regards social education between the Education Department and the Development Department will have to cease.
(b) It will also be necessary to provide adequate machinery for implementing the Adult Literacy programme which will have to be on a sufficiently large-scale if it is to produce an impact. For this purpose, originally under the Community Development programme, one man Social Education Organiser and one woman Social Education Organizer was provided for each block. At present, however, the position is that these posts have been abolished by some State Governments. Where these posts still exist, the Social Education Organizers have been allotted different types of work. In order to have an effective programme, at least 25 literacy classes for men and 15 literacy classes for women should be organised in each Community Development Block. This will mean a considerable increase in work and separate personnel of the type of Social Education Organizers will be necessary for each block. The former arrangement of having two Social Education Organizers for each Community Development Block will have to be restored and the staff will have to be kept under the Department of Education so that proper technical guidance and control may be ensured.
(c) An Adult Literacy effort on a large scale will require con- stant supervision and guidance from trained officers. In this context it is worth examining whether the Assistant or sub-Inspector of school, who has already got a heavy load of work of inspecting primary schools, will be able to shoulder the additional responsibilities in connection with the Adult Literary programme.
(d) Adequate supporting services at the district and State level, will also have to be provided. At the district level, the supporting services required will be training courses for literacy teachers, provision of library services, conducting of examinations in literacy and supply of primers, readers and other literature. A separate officerin-charge of the Adult Literacy and Education Programme may also be necessary at the State level. All the above aspects will have to be taken into account while formulating the programme. Detailed suggestions in this respect were made in the letter dated 22nd September, 1962 issued by the Ministry of Education.
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(e) While preparing Annual Budgets it may be necessary to pool all the resources available for social education with the Education Department and other Departments like the Development De. partment. Such pooled resources should be under the control of the Education Departments which may allot them to the District, the Community Development Blocks and to the Panchayati Raj Institutions.
7. The State Education Ministers' Conference held on 18th and 19th October, 1962 considered the position regarding Adult Literacy and Education and recommended that in view of the urgent need to play for adult education and to increase the tempo of literacy work, the responsibility for social education including adult literacy should be that of the Education Departments of the State Governments and the Union Territories and that they should exercise the technical and administrative control over the whole programme. In pursuance of the recommendation of the Conference, the Education Minister addressed a communication on the 25th January, 1963 to the Chief Ministers of all States. It was emphasized therein that the tempo of work towards liquidating illiteracy has to be increased. It was also stated therein that the Planning Commission had informed that there is no intention to scale down the priority accorded to Adult Literacy and Education programmes, though in view of the new and urgent demands on the resources it would be necessary to regulate the size of the effort in this direction with reference to the resources available with the States.
8. It is unfortunate that an impression has grown that the pro- gramme of adult literacy has a low priority in the present national emergency. This impression seems to have resulted in non-inclusion of plans on a sufficiently large scale for liquidating adult illiteracy in, the annual education programmes of the State Governments. It is even now necessary for the State Governments and Union Territories to, indicate their favourable response to the suggestions of the Ministry of Education and to include plans for literacy in their Annual Plan Budgets.
9. In yet another letter dated 6th March, 1963 the Union Educa- tion Minister urged that it has now become imperative to explore all possible ways for increasing the literacy effort. We should appeal to the teachers of primary, middle and secondary schools to volunteer for this type of work. The entire population of the country has risen to the call of the Nation and has come forward with donations of gold, blood and money, and other things. It would be in the fitness of things that persons who have received education and who can teach the adult illiterates should come forward to make vidyadan' or gift of knowledge to their fellow countrymen who have not had the good fortune of receiving literacy.
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