{"id":62934,"date":"2025-09-11T11:26:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T05:56:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=62934"},"modified":"2025-09-11T11:29:59","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T05:59:59","slug":"himachal-pradesh-declared-fully-literate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/himachal-pradesh-declared-fully-literate\/","title":{"rendered":"Himachal Pradesh Declared Fully Literate: Meaning, ULLAS Programme &#038; Literacy Trends"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Fully Literate State in India Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Himachal Pradesh has been declared \u2018fully literate\u2019, joining Goa, Ladakh, Mizoram, and Tripura. However, \u2018fully literate\u2019 does not imply 100% literacy.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It means the state has achieved a literacy rate above 95%, with Himachal recording 99.3%.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other states also fall in this category, though none have absolute universal literacy.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Defining Literacy and Full Literacy in India<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Ministry of Education defines l<\/span><b>iteracy as the ability to read, write, and compute with comprehension, including skills like digital and financial literacy<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A State\/UT is considered \u2018fully literate\u2019 when it achieves 95% literacy.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These definitions were issued in August 2023 for the ULLAS programme, launched in 2022 to promote adult education for those above 15.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Aimed at achieving 100% literacy by 2030, ULLAS aligns with the UN\u2019s Sustainable Development Goals and India\u2019s National Education Policy 2020.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>ULLAS Programme<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>ULLAS (Understanding Lifelong Learning for All in Society)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a national adult education initiative launched in 2022 by the Ministry of Education.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It targets individuals aged 15 and above who missed formal schooling, aiming to equip them with reading, writing, numeracy, digital skills, and financial literacy.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The programme aligns with the National Education Policy 2020 and the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UN Sustainable Development Goal of achieving 100% literacy by 2030<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-62954\" src=\"https:\/\/d35xcwcl37xo08.cloudfront.net\/current-affairs-wp-uploads\/2025\/09\/unnamed-62.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"196\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><b>How Literacy is Attained under ULLAS<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under the ULLAS programme, adults are taught basic reading, writing, and arithmetic (up to Class 3 level), along with practical skills like reading time, using calendars, handling money, writing cheques, and making safe digital transactions.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Training is delivered via a mobile app or offline by students and community volunteers.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Learners then take the <\/span><b>Functional Literacy Numeracy Assessment Test (FLNAT)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a 150-mark test in their chosen language.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Successful candidates are certified by the <\/span><b>National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as having achieved foundational literacy and numeracy.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Process of Becoming a \u2018Fully Literate\u2019 State<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To achieve the \u2018fully literate\u2019 tag, states first identify adults lacking literacy through door-to-door surveys or data records.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These individuals are trained under the ULLAS programme and tested through the <\/span><b>Functional Literacy Numeracy Assessment Test (FLNAT)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">States where the number of illiterate adults is relatively small \u2014 due to already high literacy levels or smaller populations \u2014 achieve the milestone more quickly.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, according to the 2011 Census, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Tripura already had literacy rates well above the national average of 74%.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Measuring Literacy in India<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the 2011 Census, literacy was defined as the ability to read and write with understanding in any language for those aged seven and above.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The literacy rate stood at <\/span><b>80.9% for men<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>64.6% for women<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, while adult literacy (15+) was 69.3%.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Subsequent surveys have tracked progress. The <\/span><b>NSS 71st round (2014)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> reported 71% adult literacy nationally, with Mizoram at 96%, Goa at 90%, Himachal at 83%, and Tripura at 86%.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>PLFS 2023-24<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> estimated a national literacy rate of 77.5%, with Mizoram (98.2%), Goa (93.6%), Tripura (93.7%), and Himachal (88.8%) among the top performers.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, 22.3% of Indians aged 15+ were still not literate, with the highest levels in Bihar (33.1%), Andhra Pradesh (31.5%), and Madhya Pradesh (28.9%).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/himachal-pradesh-fully-literate-10242199\/#:~:text=The%20Ministry%20of%20Education%20defines,in%20a%20State%2FUT%E2%80%9D.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IE<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> | <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/himachal-pradesh\/himachal-pradesh-becomes-fully-literate-state\/article70026151.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TH<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> | <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.india.gov.in\/spotlight\/ullas-understanding-lifelong-learning-all-society\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NPI<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Himachal Pradesh becomes India\u2019s fifth fully literate state with 99.3% literacy. Learn what \u2018fully literate\u2019 means and how the ULLAS programme is driving progress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":62950,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[2613,60,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-62934","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-fully-literate-state","9":"tag-mains-articles","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}