Importance of a Literate Society

It is very well said that an army can't march on empty stomach in the same way a
country can't be called developed with a huge illiterate population.
Literacy is very important for the development of the individual and for the nation as
well. A literate or educated person has a high self esteem, he or she is fairly independent
and is aware of his/her rights and duties and so he or she can't be exploited.
UNESCO has drafted a definition of literacy as the ability to identify, understand,
interpret, communicate, compute and use printed and written materials associated with
varying context. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to
achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in
their community and wider society.
Moreover, a literate or educated person has to develop the country, by using its
resources, which an illiterate or uneducated person can't. Literacy is the biggest power
one can have. A literate person is most important asset of a country whereas illiterate
person is just a liability on the society. Due to illiteracy our national income is not
increasing and also a huge amount of natural resources are left unused.
Not only at the national level, at personal level also, literacy is very important, An
illiterate person is generally poor and also the most exploited one, since he is not able to
take the advantage of the several national developmental programmes.
International literacy day is celebrated each year on 8th September with the aim to
highlight the importance of literacy to individual, communities and societies.
Literacy in India is key for socio-economic progress. India currently has the largest
illiterate population on earth. India along with the Arab states and Sub-saharan Africa,
has a literacy level below the threshold level of 75%, but efforts are on to achieve to that
level.
There is a wide gender disparity in the literacy rate in India. The low female literacy rate
has had a dramatically negative impact on family planning and population stabilization
efforts in India.
Today India is food sufficient nation, a pioneering nation in space science and has nuclear
technology also, but still we are not a developed nation. The major factor for it is its huge
illiterate population.
Indifferent attitude of government, lack of interest and incentives among the National
Literacy Mission members and also lack of awareness are the main cause of illiteracy.
For the proper growth of our country schemes like- National Literacy Mission, Sarva
Siksha Abhiyan, Mid-day meal scheme and adult literacy programme etc should be
implemented effectively.