Question : National Literacy Mission

(a) the details of the funds sanctioned and incurred on the National Literacy Mission (NLM) during the last three years and the current year, State/UT-wise and the achievements made so far under the said scheme;
(b) whether the Government proposes to provide special assistance to the States with low levels of adult female literacy in order to achieve hundred per cent female literacy by the end of the current Five Year Plan period;
(c) whether the Government proposes to supply educational tools, uniform and food to all students belonging to below poverty line upto Tenth standard so as to contain dropout of students in schools;
(d) if so, the details thereof and the corrective action taken by the Government in this regard; and
(e) the financial assistance extended by the Government for achieving hundred per cent literacy in the country during the last three years and the current year, State/UT-wise?

MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
(SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a) to (e) A statement is laid on the table of the House.


STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) TO (e) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 320 FOR 21.12.2015 ASKED BY SHRIMATI NEELAM SONKER AND SHRI N.K. PREMACHANDRAN REGARDING “NATIONAL LITERACY MISSION”.

(a) A statement indicating State/UT-wise grants approved and central share released under Saakshar Bharat, the new variant of National Literacy Mission during the last three years and current year is at Annexure-I. The achievements under the programme inter-alia include certification of about 3.66 crore learners including 2.62 crore women as literates in the bi-annual assessment tests conducted under Basic Literacy with the help of National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) upto March 2015; setting up of 1.54 lakh Adult Education Centres (AECs) in equal number of gram panchayats under continuing education; engagement of 2.79 lakh preraks in these AECs; production and distribution of 48.16 million primers in 13 Indian languages and 26 dialects; etc.
(b) Under Saakshar Bharat rural areas of 410 districts in 27 States/UT that had adult female literacy rate of 50 per cent or below as per Census 2001 including left wing extremism affected districts, irrespective of their literacy rates are being covered. The main target of the scheme is to achieve 80 percent literacy rate & reduce gender gap to 10 percentage points by the end of XII Five Year Plan.
(c) & (d) The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) norms provide for two sets of uniforms for all girls, and children belonging to SC/ST/BPL families in Government schools within a ceiling of Rs.400/- per child per annum.
SSA also provides financial support for providing textbooks to all children in Government/Local Body and Government aided schools, including Madarsas desirous of introducing the State curriculum, within an upper ceiling of Rs.150/- per child at primary level and Rs. 250/- per child at upper primary level.
Further, SSA programme provides a number of incentives to encourage enrolment and retention and to reduce dropout of children in schools. These include enhancing access to primary and upper primary schools, strengthening school infrastructure like school building, additional classrooms, toilets, drinking water facilities etc., improving the teacher-pupil ratio as well as strategies for gender positive textbooks, gender sensitization of teachers and educational administrators. In addition, 3602 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas or residential schools for girls belonging predominantly to the SC, ST, OBC and minorities at upper primary level in educationally backward blocks of the country have been set up.
Under Mid Day Meal programme (MDM) hot cooked meal is served to all the eligible children of class I to VIII of Government and Government-aided schools, special training centres and Madarsas & Maqtabs supported under SSA on all the working school days.
(e) The central share released under Saakshar Bharat to the States/UT is already given at Annexure-I. A statement indicating State/UT-wise grants released under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) during the last three years and the current year is at Annexure-II.
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