Literacy drive lifts Chandigarh to 99.93%, earns full literacy tag

The milestone follows a focused adult literacy drive carried out across the city over the past year;it follows an intensive adult literacy drive led by the UT education department, targeting residents aged 15 and above who had missed formal schooling

: Chandigarh has been declared a fully literate Union Territory after its literacy rate rose to 99.93%, surpassing the 95% benchmark set under the Centre’s Understanding Lifelong Learning for All in Society (ULLAS) programme.The milestone follows a focused adult literacy drive carried out across the city over the past year.It follows an intensive adult literacy drive led by the UT education department, targeting residents aged 15 and above who had missed formal schooling. A survey conducted in December 2024 identified 7,761 non-literate adults, who were subsequently enrolled in the programme and trained in reading, writing, numeracy and basic digital awareness.

Teachers were supported by NSS and NCC volunteers, along with nodal officers tasked with monitoring the progress of learners. (HT Photo for representation)

Teachers were supported by NSS and NCC volunteers, along with nodal officers tasked with monitoring the progress of learners. Director School Education (DSE) Nitish Singla said the administration adopted a targeted approach to ensure that identified learners could complete the programme. “We identified nearly 15,000 illiterate adults and deployed nodal officers and volunteers who worked closely with them, helping prepare them for the literacy assessment,” he said. Participants in the programme must clear the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Assessment Test, conducted twice a year, which evaluates whether learners can read with understanding, write simple sentences and perform basic arithmetic. The assessment also measures their ability to apply basic digital and financial literacy skills in everyday life.

Newly literate residents were honoured at a felicitation event where Gulab Chand Kataria, UT administrator and Punjab governor, called the achievement a proud moment for the city and credited teachers, volunteers and learners for their collective effort.

According to the 2011 Census, Chandigarh’s literacy rate stood at 86%, including 90% among men and 81.2% among women.

With the latest declaration, UT joins a small group of regions that have crossed the full literacy benchmark in recent years, including Mizoram, Goa, Tripura and Himachal Pradesh. Among Union Territories, only Ladakh had earlier achieved the milestone. India’s first widely recognised fully literate state was Kerala, which reached the milestone following its Total Literacy Campaign in 1991.

Despite the milestone, the city still has 14,586 children identified as out of school, according to the UT administration’s latest out of school survey.