Literacy is an important factor in the progress of any country.

History has shown that people who cannot read or write are enslaved.

Take a look at British India. According to the 1901 Census, India's literacy rate was only five percent.

India, which can only be read and written by five out of a hundred, was again occupied by the British Empire for more than forty years, but no literacy was achieved.

Literacy in British India has improved by ten per cent in forty years.

In independent India, literacy has improved by ten per cent in ten years.

Eighty per cent of people in present day India are literate.

No one can deny that India is very advanced.

It should also be noted that there are many contradictions in India's progress.

While Kerala ranks first in terms of literacy, Bihar lags far behind.

According to the 1971 census, the literacy rate in Kerala was 69.75 per cent. In 2011, it was 93.41 per cent.

In Kerala, only 7 out of 100 people are illiterate. Most of them are elderly women.

Kerala still lags behind Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh and Jharkhand in literacy in 1971.

Thirty per cent or more of the people in these states are illiterate. In the case of women, the number of illiterates is even higher.

With the exception of Mizoram and Lakshadweep, other states and Union Territories are still lagging behind Kerala in 1991.

Kerala has long been at the forefront of literacy and education.

National literacy was 18 per cent in 1951 and 47 per cent in Kerala.

It is clear that it will take time and effort for states with larger areas and populations to come with Kerala.

Activities in other areas for literacy and education are in full swing. There is no doubt that they will move forward.

National literacy is expected to reach 85 percent according to the new census. It will take time again to reach over ninety percent.

While it is to be hoped that India will become fully literate in twenty years, we will still be affected by the economic downturn created by the epidemic.