The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that literacy provides the first essential step towards building a participative, vibrant, and a more inclusive democracy. He was addressing an event organised on the occasion of International Literacy Day, here today. The Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Prakash Javdekar, the Minister of State for 
Human Resource Development, Shri Upendra Kushwaha, the Minister of State for Human Resource Development and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Dr. Satyapal Singh, the Secretary, Department of School Education & Literacy, Shri Anil Swarup and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.
The Vice President Said that the Literacy Day reminds us of the importance of literacy in the development architecture of all countries and its crucial, central role as a development accelerator. He further said that literacy helps individuals to access and exercise various rights and entitlements provided to them under the Constitution. Literacy a stepping stone for all forms of formal learning as well as lifelong education, literacy enables individuals to access and avail economic, political and social benefits, he added.
The Vice President suggested ways to achieve universal literacy; firstly to improve the quality of pre-primary and school education; secondly, we must provide opportunities for learning to those who have never been to school or have dropped out of school.
The Vice President said that Neo-literates, majority of who are women, will be the ambassadors of our programme leading towards making Saakshar Bharat a Saksham Bharat. He further said that we must use technology to make the literacy programmes more effective. Digital learning materials can address the diverse learning needs of different age groups more effectively, he added.
The Vice President said that literacy learning can be made more meaningful if it is linked to the daily lives of the learners. He further said that community learning centers can become the hubs of literacy learning and community empowerment. Let us create a new India built on the strengthened base of a literate, educated, empowered population, he added.
He said, “I am glad to note that India is a part of the UNESCO-led initiative called the 
‘Global Alliance for Literacy within the Framework of Lifelong Learning’. India can take a lead in contributing to this global effort to transform the literacy landscape of the world in the next 15 years.” Before he concluded he congratulated all those who have received the Saakshar Bharat Awards for their outstanding contribution in the field of adult literacy. He also called upon all stakeholders, including State Governments, Civil Society Organizations, NGOs, Corporate Bodies, the intelligentsia and my fellow citizens to join hands in transforming India to a fully literate society.
He expressed his vision for India and said, “Let us create a new India built on the strengthened base of a literate, educated, empowered population. Let us realize that heaven of freedom dreamt of by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore: “Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high, where knowledge is free; where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls”.
To Read:SPEECH BY VICE PRESIDENT OF INDIA ON THE INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY EVENT
