According to 2001 census the literacy rate in Delhi is 81.82 per cent. It means about 20 lakh people, out of total one crore population of Delhi, are still illiterate. Sewa Bharati Delhi, an RSS associated organisation working among underprivileged sections of the society for 24 years, has decided to make these 20 per cent people fully literate. The campaign for this vision was formally kicked off by Shri Prem Chand Goel, Akhil Bharatiya Sewa Pramukh of RSS in New Delhi on January 26 in the presence of Shri K.P.S Gill, former Director General of Punjab Police. Sewa Bharati has undertaken the campaign to commemorate the birth centenary year of Shri Guruji, the second Sarsanghachalak of RSS.
The first phase of the campaign began from February 1 in all the slums and jhuggi jhaupri colonies across Delhi. Over 1200 workers, who take no remuneration whatsoever, are devoting at least one hour every day to work as teachers. The campaign would have four phases. In the first phase, at least 50,000 people are expected to teach three R?s. In contrast to the hugely expensive literacy drives launched by the government agencies from time to time, the Sewa Bharati campaign will incur minimum expense. The cost of making one person fully literate will be merely Rs 42. The total estimated cost of the first phase is about 23 lakh, which is being borne by the society. The Sewa Bharati has adopted a unique method developed by Shri G.P. Jain for the literacy drive and the method was tried in several localities of Delhi where it produced remarkable results.
According to Shri Prem Chand Goel, over 70,000 service projects were being run by various RSS-associated organisations in the country. Besides it 30,000 single-teacher schools were also being run in remote villages where there is no facility for even a primary school. He said at least 20,000 more such schools will be opened this year taking the number to 50,000. He said during this centenary year the total number of service projects would touch one lakh. Shri Goel further said by involving the society in the drive the Sewa Bharati aimed to develop a sense of social responsibility among the people. ?We want to develop social harmony by facilitating contact between the haves and the have-nots. It will create a social movement, which will further lead to social integration and all-round development of the society,? he said pointing out that no government help had been sought for the campaign. He said the RSS and other like-minded organisations would act as the force multiplier for Sewa Bharati'sworkforce.
Shri K.P.S. Gill said the problem of illiteracy could not be resolved until we did not start thinking about the children who failed to go to school due to economic reasons or lack of time. He appreciated the efforts of Sewa Bharati for inculcating a sense of social responsibility among the people.
