SOLAPUR, Sept 16: Solapur district has got the prestigious Satyanmaitra Literacy Award at the hands of the President of India K.R. Narayanan at Delhi recently, for excellent results in eradicating illiteracy from each village of the district. The award was received by the concerned official on International Literacy Day. The programme to educate every illiterate person was introduced in September 1996. The literacy movement was held for people between the age group of 15 and 35 years. So far, Rs. 2.25 crore have been spent on this project by the government.In the city, about 36,485 illiterates were registered following all-out efforts taken by the district collector and various groups. 30,890 have become literate of which 19,840 are women.
Solapur district had a very high illiteracy ratio. There were about 2.75 lakh illiterates, of which 1.90 lakh have became literate. Of these, more than 1.35 lakh are women. The literacy rate among women in as high as 75 per cent and 55 per cent among men in the district.
To keep a vigil on the working style of the literacy project in the district, of which the district collector is the chief, the Society for the Integrated Rural Development Infrastructure (SIRDI) of New Delhi had recently examined the project. The members of the SIRDI conducted both spoken and written tests of the newly-literate persons to get an idea of the project. Of the 13,449 new literates who took the test, 13,202 successfully passed it.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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