Vice President calls for 100 per cent literacy

Varanasi, Apr 9 (UNI) Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat today gave a call for 100 per cent literacy to empower poor and deprived sections in the country saying sustained efforts were needed to achieve the Goal.

As chief guest at the 89th convocation of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) here, Mr Shekhawat underscored the need for bringing to zero the dropout rate of schoolchildren among poor and deprived sections and expanding avenues for vocational training right from high school.

He also highlighted the need for hassle-free and corruption-free governance in the country.

Mr Shekhawat stated education had to become integral to public welfare as also the empowerment of poor and deprived sections to enable them to win the fight for a life of dignity and self-respect.

He further said despite vital importance of education in nation building, Indian literacy level still remained absymally low. It is a matter of great concern that as high as 35 per cent of people lack basic literacy skills. About 53 per cent of children drop out at elementary level and just one third of high school students graduate.

''Most of the dropouts belong to the poorest segments of our society. ''We need to bring down dropout rate to zero for which deprived sections should be provided special support.'' ''During my tenure as Chief Minister of Rajasthan, many proactive and innovative initiatives were undertaken to address these issues which resulted in an all time high increase in literacy rate from 38 per cent in 1991 to 62.5 in 2001,'' he informed.

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