Effective learning and communication in this computer age is difficult without literacy, so also acquisition and sharing of knowledge and information. In fact, literacy is considered a pre- requisite for the physical and mental growth of people and the development of the nation as a whole.

It was in this background that the National Policy of Education -- 1986 declared that the whole nation must pledge itself to the work of eradicating illiteracy, particularly in the 15-35 age group. The National Literacy Mission came into being in 1988 and started striving to involve all sections of the community in the literacy endeavour.

Swami Vivekananda had once said: "The education which does not help the common mass of people to equip themselves for the struggle of life, which does not bring out strength of character, a spirit of philanthropy, and the courage of a lion -- is it worth the name?"

Adult Education or Literacy is not only a theoretical conception but also a very practical proposition. Man being supreme in the world, the underlying philosophy of Education from the Indian point of view can only be what was stated in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:

Asato Ma Sadgamaya -- From evil lead me to good

Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamaya -- From darkness lead me to light

Mrityo Ma Amritamgamaya -- From death lead me to immortality

Om Shanti.. -- Peace be.

So this effort has to be understood in the wider sense aimed at improving the quality of life of the people. It is expected to combat the existing social, cultural, economic and other inequalities and help in building a self-reliant and self- sustaining economy.

It is ironical that even today, our leaders and people's representatives feel that literacy can wait till such a time that other basic human needs are met. In their scheme of things, literacy gets a very low priority, coming only after poverty alleviation -- food, clothing, shelter, work, health and so on. In case of Kerala or Tamil Nadu, which have a high literacy level, this is not applicable. But what about the Hindi belt, the bigger States and larger populations remaining illiterate since Independence?

Is it the intention of these representatives that the deprived sections of the community remain oppressed, illiterate and their children go without schooling? They fail to perceive literacy as part of the development process -- as an endeavour to improve the quality of life, as the process of building awareness among the weaker sections, as part of democratisation of political power, as the arrangement to give their due -- to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor, the haves and the have-nots.

They are unable to appreciate the relevance of literacy in matters like infant mortality, immunisation, children's participation in primary schools, population growth, family planning, women's emancipation, social evils like child marriage, dowry, bride burning and so on.

World Bank studies have established the direct and functional relationship between literacy and productivity on the one hand and literacy and the overall quality of human life on the other.

The 1992 Education Policy envisaged free and compulsory elementary education of satisfactory quality to all children up to the age of 14 before India entered the 21st Century. The Supreme Court in its 1993 ruling held that children had a fundamental right to free education.

It was in this background, last year that the President gave his assent to the Constitution (83rd Amendment) Bill, 2000, and the "right to education" was incorporated in the Constitution as a fundamental right.

The country had failed to implement the provisions of Article 45, providing for compulsory and free education of children up to 14 years of age within 10 years from the commencement of the Constitution. Will this current amendment achieve the objective, is yet to be seen. Will the Central and State Governments demonstrate the necessary political will and administrative resolve to achieve universalisation of elementary education and eradicate illiteracy, which is again a big question mark?

The bigger question is: Can a country, whose first and foremost resource is its people, afford to leave the majority out of the main stream? Can a modern democratic nation be built on foundations of ignorance and illiteracy?

In India, we had a vast reservoir of knowledge, both traditional and modern. But that did not necessarily mean that the country was highly literate. Mass illiteracy did not allow Indians to use the reservoir of knowledge properly. There was a wide gap within the country between knowledge and its uses. Knowledge in itself is not useful. One has to use it for the good of humanity, which means action i.e. `Karma'. So `Jnana' (knowledge) to fructify or bear fruit needs action. On our action also depends our success.

By simply declaring literacy as a fundamental right, we have only taken the first step in educating the masses. Education has to be made accessible to all. If we can do that at least in the next decade, we would have the honour of wiping out our fallacies related to literacy.

G. SIVASWAMY