Hans News Service Dehradun

Uttarakhandon Wednesday became the country’s sixth fully literate state under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the ‘ULLAS’ (Understanding Lifelong Learning for All in Society) programme, officials said.

The state achieved the significant milestone after meeting the prescribed adult literacy benchmarks set by the Department of School Education and Literacy under the Union Ministry of Education, they said. Following this, Uttarakhand Governor Lieutenant General (Retd.) Gurmeet Singh approved the proposal declaring the state fully literate. Before Uttarakhand, five other states - Mizoram, Goa, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, and Sikkim - had already achieved full literacy status. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami described the achievement as a “milestone” for the state. He said the active participation of the people, along with the government’s sustained efforts, played a key role in achieving this feat. Congratulating the people of the state, Dhami said, “Such collective efforts will help in realizing the goal of a ‘Viksit Bharat’ (Developed India) by 2047. Furthermore, the government will continue to work with full commitment to ensure that digital literacy, financial literacy, continuing education, and life skills reach every citizen.” The state cabinet had approved the proposal to declare Uttarakhand fully literate on June 19. According to officials, Uttarakhand’s literacy rate currently stands at over 98 percent.