In spite of a thriving economy, illiteracy is rampant in India. Almost 400 million people in India are still illiterate and due to this, India is host to the largest number of unemployed population. Illiteracy among rural women is as high as 65 per cent, compared to their urban counterparts. Research studies also reveal that developmental indicators and the levels of literacy of the population are correlated and the correlation is strong with the level of female education. In recent years, the empowerment of women has been recognised as the central issue in determining the status of women. The literacy rate in India is nearly 68 per cent, which is very low in comparison to other developing countries. Almost 76.9 per cent of men are literate, while only 54.5 per cent of the women are said to be literate in India. Such low literacy rates among women are linked with the problems of population growth and poor health. Illiteracy has been a challenge for India, since its independence and many government and civil society institutions are trying hard to tackle this issue through various literacy programmes.

Development Alternatives (DA), a Delhi-based not-for-profit scientific research organisation has been working in the field of sustainable livelihood for almost three decades. TARAhaat Information and Marketing Services Ltd., the ICT-based branch of DA, developed the TARAAkshar+ software in 2004-2006. This is an innovative programme that transforms the lives of rural women all over the country, with the hope of improving low literacy rate amongst Indian women and also provides them with the opportunities for sustainable livelihoods. The programme trains illiterate rural women to read and write and do basic mathematical computations. The software that teaches these rural women is based on a unique visual memory technique, where memory hooks are created for each and every letter in Hindi alphabet through animated movies.

Also, the programme uses strong learning reinforcement mechanisms called rapid-fire video gaming concepts. Another technique called ‘Synthetic Phonics’ is being used, in which the letter sounds are taught and the lessons are imparted with the help of an animated cartoon story, followed by a test on what was learnt in the story. This is the only programme which is taking literacy to the learner. The programme is such that anyone who is just matriculate can be trained to teach with it. With the use of these computer animations, flash cards and playing cards, instructors are able to train the students in just 49 days of two hour classes daily. The programme takes into account local factors and time constraints. It effectively utilises visual description and memory techniques that result in effective retention and reinforcement of taught content.

This is a well-structured programme design and an extensive operational plan from selecting instructors to conducting classes, to monitoring by sophisticated management information systems (MIS) and has successfully resulted in a high degree of efficiency. The programme covers an entire Hindi speaking belt of the country with special emphasis on Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttarakhand. The programme is quite productive in educating with approximately 60, 000 rural women with a dropout rate of just one per cent.

The impact of this programme has been so great that the Ministry for Human Resource Development (MOHRD) is considering of integrating TARA Akshar Plus into the agenda of National Literacy Mission (NLM), a central government plan that aims to make 80 million adults between the ages of 15 to 35, literate over an 80 year period. The government aims to achieve similar success in its literacy initiative (NLM) as has been realised by TARA Akshar Plus programme.

The rationale behind the launch of this programme was to bring in the marginalised and ignored into main stream of the Indian economy. Over the past few years, Indian economy has grown in leaps and bounds and the country has witnessed an exceptional growth of eight per cent in economy. Nonetheless, a large section of people in India has not been able to contribute in this growth engine and the share it benefits because they are not educated, despite various government initiatives, to address this pressing issue. Generally the existing literacy programmes are unproductive, mainly due to traditional nature of implementation and methodology. Besides many factors which are responsible for this ineffectiveness, one of the main reasons is inaccessibility of literacy centres in remote areas, lack of well-trained and committed instructors and overlap of teaching hours with that of working hours.

The programme is also meant to create sustainable livelihood opportunities by providing basic literacy levels to women and is determined to be innovative, unique and economically and socially sustainable. Moreover, the organisation believes that if right technology and management approach be utilised, highly successful literacy programmes can be delivered quickly and cost-effectively even in inaccessible communities in India.

Ever since its inception, the programme has had an enormous and far-reaching impact on the communities. Its extraordinary results and widespread reach has been possible only with the use of its technology-based intervention. The use of technology-based literacy programme has enabled us to overcome the challenges of social disparity, learning disabilities and geographical isolation.

Since its roll out, the programme has established about 400 centres and educated up to 60,000 rural women with a pass out rate of 98 per cent. So far, the programme is one of the fastest literacy programmes in the world today; having dealt with the literacy needs of 55, 656 women in just two years across five of the most ruthlessly affected northern Indian states, including Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana. However, the current statistic reveals that nearly 60,000 women have been made literate over the last five years.

Out of 55,656 students, 54, 869 completed the course; with the pass percentage of 98, illustrating the astonishing success rate of the programme. The ripple effects of the literacy programme under DA have achieved significant success and the women enrolled under this programme have exhibited considerable development. Under the programme, rural women has become overwhelmingly confident, which in turn has enhanced their ability to participate in decision-making and public interaction, which otherwise was an alien concept. The impact of this literacy programme is such that rural women have conceived the idea of self-help groups (SHG) that these women use as the support edifice whenever they need monetary assistance.

In the 2009-2010, the organisation assisted 70 enterprise units in Bundelkhand, of which at least 40-50 are managed by women’s groups, including Vegetable planting, Nursery raising, grocery shops and construction. Economically feasible packages were created that use local materials and resources and provide affordable products for housing, energy and clean drinking water. More than 25,000 community-based institutions were established in rural areas, of which nearly 45 per cent have an all-women membership.

Certainly adult literacy programme is a challenging task and the programme has already focused on those illiterates, who are psychologically deprived, emotionally disturbed and economically underprivileged. Other literacy programmes however, run under auspices and the hectic life to earn livelihood made the literacy programmes doubly difficult to institute. The adult literacy programme under the organisation has lead to an increased access to opportunities. Many women have now opted to become self-reliant rather than depending on their male counterparts. This campaign has revolutionised the minds of rural women and the seeds of change have already shown how women are also gearing up to shoulder political responsibility with men. The catalyst for such a huge change is literacy, which is an indispensable part of DA initiatives. q