Minister of State for Education, Smt. Annpurna Devi has informed that The Union of India has approved a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, namely, “New India Literacy Programme (NILP)” with the aim to support the States and Union Territories in promoting literacy among non-literates in the age group of 15 and above, across the country covering 5 crore non-literates during the implementation period from 2022-23 to 2026-27. The scheme has been approved with a financial outlay of Rs.1037.90 crore including Central share of Rs.700.00 crore and State share of Rs.337.90 crore. The scheme has five components namely, Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, Critical Life Skills, Vocational Skills Development, Basic Education and Continuing Education.
The salient features of the NILP are (i) involvement of school students, pre-service students of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), school teachers, Anganwadi and ASHA workers, NYKS, NSS, NCC volunteers, (ii) school to be unit for implementation of the scheme (iii) use of ICT and online implementation of the scheme through ‘Online Teaching Learning and Assessment System’ (OTLAS) (iv) material and resources through digital modes, viz, TV, radio, cell phone-based free/open-source Apps/portals, etc. (v) Assessment tests to be conducted in schools by State/UTs and evaluation of learners by NIOS/SIOS; assessment on demand through OTLAS and generation of e-certificates, (vi) Sample achievement survey and (vii) Online MIS.