Illiteracy Eradication and Role of Banks

Illiteracy-a Social evil:
Illiteracy is the biggest curse for any society and country. Illiteracy anywhere is dangerous to prosperity and development everywhere. Illiteracy and poverty are observe and reverse of the same coin. Both are eternally conjoined. The only solution for eradication of these social evils is education.
The problem of poverty and illiteracy is not new in our country. It is perennial and is more than a century old. In fact we never addressed this problem sincerely, as the country’s rulers and politicians thrived on poverty and illiteracy of masses. This can be vouched from a letter dated 23rd June 1894, written to His Highness Maharaja of Mysore by Swami Vivekananda from Chicago. He writes, “ The one thing that is at the root of all evil in India is the conditions of the poor. The poor in the west are devils; compared with them ours are angels, and it is therefore so much easier to raise our poor. The only service to be done for our lower classes is to give them education, to develop their lost individuality. The poor in India have forgotten that they are human beings.”¹
Even 60 years after independence, poverty and illiteracy continues to haunt the nation. Out of the population of over 1 billion an estimated 350-400 million are below the poverty line in our country. Out of which 75 per cent are in the rural areas and more than 40 per cent of the population is illiterate. According to the report of Asian Development Bank (ADB) of the 690 million extremely poor people in developing countries of Asia, 93 per cent (357 million) are in India, in the People's Republic of China (203 million), and other South Asian countries (77 million). Can we really consider ourselves as a developed country with such a high rate of illiteracy?
On 24th April 1897, Vivekananda wrote to the Editor of Bharti (a Bengali paper)“I see it before my eyes, a nation is advanced in proportion as education and intelligence spread among the masses”², and the problem of illiteracy still persists even after a century. It goes to prove that neither serious attention was ever paid nor sincere efforts were made for eradication of this evil from our country. Though we have now awakened from a long slumber, it is still not too late.
Who is illiterate?
The question is what do we mean by literacy? Is it only procuring university degrees or something else? In common parlance literacy is the ability to read, write, communicate, think and comprehend. However, for most of the banks and other commercial establishments, literacy means the ability to sign.
A person is considered literate if he can sign and those who are not able to sign and use thumb impression are illiterate. This is the thumb rule which most of the organizations particularly banks follow. The reason being that payments made to a person are to be acknowledged and this can be done either by putting signatures or by putting thumb impression. Some institutions motivate their clients to become literate only to the extent that they can sign. Is it correct to have such a narrow approach?
Illiteracy in our country:
India is a populous country, having a head count of over a billion. Population is growing at geometrical progression and literacy by arithmetical progression. Unless some thing is done now and that too on war footings to reverse the trend of illiteracy, the future ahead can be well imagined. Are we not heading towards doom?
Let us glance at the statistics. Three fourth of our population i.e. over 725 million live in 6 lakhs villages with population ranging between 800 to 5000, and 50 % of the rural masses are illiterate. Isn’t it a huge battalion? Not only this, at least 50% do not have access to formal educational facilities. Either there are no schools or there are no teachers or no infrastructures. Out of these illiterates around 40% i.e. around 300 million are adults i.e. more than half the population of 15 years and above did not receive any education. 47% children under 5years of age are illiterates. Around 33% males and 80% female are illiterates. In 2001 our literacy rate was 65.38%. These are all published data. My purpose is to drive home the gigantic problem of illiteracy.
Views of Swami Vivekananda:
In our society we have two types of people –literates and illiterates. Literates having some special knowledge exploit illiterates on getting even a single opportunity. We neglect uneducated and do not pass on knowledge to millions who are uneducated or illiterates. Our educated have university degrees but they are psychologically immature, as they have no sense of national responsibility as citizen. When educated people become self-centered, are not sensitive to the environment, how people live in sub human conditions, have no ability to think, imagine, analyze, understand and comprehend the needs of our society, though they are grown up, educated, they are mentally immature as they remain ignorant to reality around them either by default or by design.
In his letter dated 20th August, 1893 to one of his disciples, Swami Vivekananda wrote “I piety them. It is not their fault. They are children, yea, veritable children, though they be great and high in society. Their eyes see nothing beyond their little horizon of a few yards –the routine -work, eating, drinking, earning, and begetting, following each other in mathematical precision. They know nothing beyond-happy little souls! Their sleep is never disturbed, their nice little brown studies of lives never rudely shocked by wail of woe of misery, of degradation, and poverty, that has filled the Indian atmosphere –the result of centuries of oppression.”³
Vivekananda says that knowledge does not come from stuffing brains that is what is being done in our educational institutions. To see face ,we have to remove dust from mirror. We have to remove the dust of ignorance. The source of all misery is ignorance. Literacy is removal of dust of ignorance. We have therefore first to make our educated youths knowledgeable and sensitive to the sufferings of poor, and then only they will come forward for combating the evil of illiteracy by lighting the lamp of knowledge. According to our sages “ education is lightning of one lamp from another”.
Knowledge has meaning only with reference to ignorance. “ Kva tamah kua parkas so va hanam kua ca na kinchan”. Only with the forceps of knowledge we can remove ignorance.
Vivekananda considered all those a traitor, who got educated at the cost of nation but did nothing for upliftment of common man. In his letter written in 1884 from Chicago to one of his disciples he expresses “ So long as millions live in hunger and ignorance, I hold every man a traitor who, having been educated at their expenses, pays not the least heed to them” 4.
Our scriptures say that knowledge is nectar and ignorance is death. Avidya mritum teetvaam vidya amritum ashn ute”. We have therefore to understand where is knowledge and where is ignorance.“ kva vidya, kva ca vaidya”
Eradicating illiteracy:
a).Role of Citizens and other corporate:
Since, citizenship involves a sense of social responsibility, we have to evoke the conscious of every citizen to take responsibility of providing basic learning skills of reading, writing, understanding and comprehending to at least one illiterate a year. Once people realise their social obligation towards society it will go a long way in eradicating illiteracy from our society. It should be made mandatory for every corporate to remove illiteracy of at least 500 people/children per annum.
b). Role of Banks:
Indian banks, particularly public sector banks have good presence in rural and semi urban areas. In March 2007, there were 183 commercial banks (including 96 Regional Rural Banks). Banks were operating through 70,711 branches out of which 65.75% branches were in rural and semi urban areas. Area wise classification of branches is as under:
Rural 30,461
Semi Urban 16,035
Urban 12,649
Metro 11566
After nationalization, banks were assigned the responsibility of rural development. They were asked to open branches in rural areas for catering to the financial requirements of rural people. Banks were roped into poverty alleviation programs, such as IRDP, 20-point program etc., and were allotted districts for taking care the development of the districts. However, illiteracy, the root cause of poverty was ignored. We attempted to pump funds through banking channels but the problem of poverty still persists.
As the main cause of poverty is illiteracy, implementation of any poverty alleviation program would not yield much desired results. Illiteracy and poverty are the two major viral infections that our society is suffering from. If we remove one with the antidote of literacy, the other would automatically disappear.
Since 66% of bank branches are in rural and semi urban areas, banks have to come forward in turning the table.Therefore, for removing poverty, banks will have to simultaneously attack illiteracy. If banks are given responsibility of removing illiteracy of at least 5 persons per year per branch, illiteracy of at least 3,53,555 persons would be removed. Though it may appear to be a drop of water in the large ocean of illiterates, but it would have multiplier effect on the society. People posted in rural and semi urban branches of banks can be a catalyst in reducing illiteracy of people living around their area of operation. They can act as knowledge resource to them.
Once the masses become literate, their quest for knowledge will increase and they would opt for advanced methods of production for generating revenue, their financial status would improve, their needs will accelerate, ultimately benefiting banks in their business growth. Once the level of literacy increases, the number of persons going for higher education will increase with leaps and bound and demand for bank finance for education will go up which would ultimately increase their revenue.
Vivekananda has said “I consider that the great national sin is the neglect of the masses”5 He further says that “ No amount of politics would be of any avail until the masses in India are once more educated, well fed and well cared for. They pay for our education, they build our temples but in return they get kicks. They are practically our slaves”. 6
Most of our poor rural masses do not give that much importance towards providing basic education to their children, not because that they do not want their children to be educated, but because of compulsion for earning two square meals they engage their children in economic activities. Thus education takes back seat. We have to bring attitudinal change in them. Banks can inspire rural folks in eradication of illiteracy by giving some incentives by offering some rebate in interest to those borrowers who are willing to send their children to schools, or those borrowers who join literacy programme for adults. Banks can also adopt all villages in a particular district and eradicate illiteracy from that area. Giving rebate in interest would not be a loosing proposition as banks tax liability on income and surcharge would reduce to that extent.
The time has come when banks and other organizations have to come forward for the national cause of removing illiteracy. Literacy would increase quality of human life and accelerate human development.
References:
1The Complete works of Swami Vivekananda, Volume IV (1994 edition) page 362
2 ibid page 482
3 The Complete works of Swami Vivekananda, Volume V (1994 edition) page 16
4 ibid (1994 edition) page 58
5& 6.Vivekananda’s Call to Nation page 86