NEW DELHI, Mar 11:
A BJP member today embarrassed the Government saying it should be “ashamed” over the low literacy levels in the country, drawing a snub from Union Minister Smriti Irani who said he should be careful in choosing words.
During the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha, Nishikant Dubey cited data from a UNESCO report and said the “Indian government should be ashamed” about low literacy levels in the country.
The BJP member was also quick to add that it was not the fault of the present dispensation led by his party but that of the previous UPA regime.
In response, a visibly peeved HRD Minister said the member should be careful while speaking.
“You should ask the question quickly… When you say ‘Indian government should be ashamed’, you should be careful as it would also cover the present government,” she noted.
Irani also said that instead of asking a question, Dubey had given a long speech.
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan too said everyone should speak with responsibility.
Cautioning that members should be careful with their language, Mahajan said “on social problems like education, when we use the expression like India should be ashamed… We should speak with responsibility”.
“We are representatives of people… We are not ordinary people… Please be little careful (Thoda sa dhyan de) when asking a question or while making a reply,” Mahajan said.
As per a UNESCO Global Monitoring Report 2013-14, around 37 per cent of the world’s total adult illiterates are reported from India.
Replying to Dubey’s question, the Minister said efforts were being made to improve literacy, including that of females, in the country. Literacy rate went up to 72.98 per cent in 2011 from 64.84 per cent in 2001, she said.
The increase in literacy rate during this period was due to the launch of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in 2001-02, enforcement of Right to Education Act, 2009 and implementation of Saakshar Bharat Programme from October 2009, Irani said.
“The gross enrollment ratio of children in the 6-14 years age group is 97 per cent in 2013-14, up from 86.8 per cent in 2005-06,” she noted.
According to the Minister, the low literacy rate was due to various factors including poverty, gender and social inequities.
As per the 2011 Census, the number of illiterates declined to 28.27 crore from 30.41 crore in 2001.
Talking about initiatives in the education sector, Irani said efforts were being made to improve learning outcomes and added that the best practices in the education sector followed by one state could be shared with others.
Irani also said that the government was working on a project whereby citizens would be provided free online diploma and certificate courses, among others. (PTI)
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