Illiteracy eradication has been the priority of every government and billions of rupees have been invested in its name but the end result has not been very satisfactory. The low returns could be ascribed, among other things, to financial irregularities and fictitious statistics to show a higher number of literates than what the reality is. And, now, coming to the present government, it is once again the same slogan. The target group of illiterates have been roughly put at 11.7 million, and they need basic education, that is, the ability to read, write and do elementary arithmetic. For this purpose, it has undertaken the task of collecting the illiteracy census which is expected to be completed by January 14 next year. 35,000 volunteers will be spread out in the country to visit households in every ward to acquire data related to the number of illiterates between the ages of 15 and 60. That will give the exact number of people who will come under the fold of the National Literacy Campaign.

As has been mentioned in the 2008/09 budget, the government policy is to launch a massive literacy campaign with a commensurate budgetary allocation of Rs. 1.04 billion A study of the budget speech makes it clear that priority has been accorded to the educational sector and the illiterate citizens are not to be sidelined but programmes to be launched to enhance their educational status. In this direction, very little delay has been observed as the task of counting those lacking basic education has begun a little over three months after the new government took office. That the work has begun in earnest is evident as the National Literacy Campaign is set to begin from mid-January. Moreover, the two-year timeframe to make 7.8 million people literate is ambitious but not impossible given the logistics are in place and the motivation is there among the learners to go through the planned three-month classes.

The success of the literacy campaign will be assured if the task is carried out according to the plan and no attempt is made to siphon away the funds through corruption which was the foremost reason why the earlier ventures in this direction did not have much to show, except on paper. Though there are many fronts that the present government has to pay attention to, the campaign to eliminate illiteracy must be considered a gauge to measure how the government plan and programmes fare in effectiveness and results. There are reasons why the government expects much from the success of the campaign because a literate or rather educated population is the bedrock for a prosperous country. Ideology apart, this mission to benefit the illiterate is not only for them but also for the society as a whole. Despite the low key coverage accorded to the launch of the illiteracy census, the objectives are of greater significance than the general people assume. The census and the NLC should have received greater publicity. This raises the nagging doubt whether all the talk made so far would really materialise. Yet, as one part of the buildup for the said campaign has begun there seems to be optimism that there will be something to show at the end of the day.