Illiteracy is not bane, corruption is: Neo-literate

World Literacy Day celebrations in Mangalore

Standing in front of a crowd of hundreds of people and several dignitaries on the dais, Hussien took the stage to speak about his experience after gaining literacy during the World Literacy Day celebration held on Tuesday at Rotary Bal Bhavan.
He said that if he was illiterate, he would have never ever imagined coming to a programme and speaking so confidently.

“Self confidence is the only thing which can take us ahead in life and this self confidence comes with education,” he said and added that many say that nation is not progressing because there are lot of illiterate in the country. He opined that even illiterate people have carved niche for themselves but what is truly hindering progress of the nation is corruption. He called upon the young students to see to it that they do not give or take bribe at any point of life.

Many other neo-literates confidently spoke about their experience of being literate after spending several years of life without knowing how to read and write. Earlier inaugurating the programme, Mangalore North constituency MLA N Yogish Bhat said that endeavours must be made to rise the literacy level in the district to 100 per cent. He said that the literacy rate of the district is 84 per cent at present and district stands second in the State.

Lauding the commitment and dedication of Preraks and Assistant Preraks, who have lost their source of livelihood with the winding up of continued education centres, Bhat said that the fact that these preraks and assistant preraks had toiled to impart education to illiterate despite irregular honourarium and various other obstacles, show their service mentality and spirit of facing challenges.
District Kannada Sahithya Parishat President Pradeep Kumar Kalkura said that it is wrong notion that only those who can read and write are intellectuals.
He said that our ancestors who made folklore and traditional dance and songs without any knowledge of letters were also intellectuals.
Mangalore MLA U T Khader, Taluk Panchayat President Ramchandra Kumpala, Zilla Panchayat Education Standing Committee President Rajashree Hegde, District Adult Education Officer Dayawati among others were present.