Literacy programme in Palghar empowers adults to sign documents, read headlines

Over 30,000 individuals in Palghar received passing certificates of functional literacy on Tuesday after they successfully completed a three-month adult literacy programme. They have now left the stigma of being "illiterate" and can sign instead of giving a thumb impression and can also read signboards.
"The programme empowers adults to become literate in basic reading, writing and arithmetic.The idea is to give a sense of pride through this literacy programme," said Rotary International's former president Shekhar Mehta.
Mehta said that this scheme equips adults to get proficiency in reading, writing and arithmetic on par with class three students and the beneficiaries are not dependent on others to at least read sign boards and their basic documents like Aadhar Cards.
The initiative works with two basic formats. In the first, educated people, especially school and college students, are encouraged to teach at least one person under the scheme 'Each one Teach one.' In the other format called Vidya, 40 individuals are taught for three months in classrooms.
In this programme, adult students also learn to fill out banking forms, understand newspaper headlines, and even manage basic household finances. They are introduced to essential government documents and schemes such as Aadhar Card and various Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. The prerikas or instructors too were given certificates in recognition of their services. "The prerikas taught me everything. I can now recite the table upto five and can sign," said Pundalik Pandu Dalvi, a resident of Jambhulpada in Palghar.
"We have resolved to make everyone in Palghar literate by 2027,” said Sandip Agarwalla, former district governor and founder of the Adult Literacy Campaign in Palghar.