Let’s make India Literate
Thank you for wholeheartedly accepting RILM and making it the talk of the town! Union Minister Smriti Irani was so happy to hear that Rotary in India will send 100,000 children back to school! This is the need of the hour.
Sachin Tendulkar has said, “There are over 200 million illiterate women in India. This low literacy negatively impacts not just their lives but also their families’ and the country’s economic development. A girl’s lack of education also has a negative impact on the health and well-being of her children.”
Are not most of the problems India facing only due to this?
Rotary India Literacy Mission is one holistic approach to fight this. Your predecessors have put their might into it and made the difference. Now it is your turn to change the lives of many more.
Rotarians of India have proved their might in eradicating polio. Now we have signed two flagship projects — Literacy and WinS. All districts are geared up — some are slow and some are really fast. I really wish we focus our attention and create an impact.
Famous American singer Grace Slick has made a great visionary statement, “Through literacy you can begin to see the universe. Through music you can reach anybody. Between the two, there is you, unstoppable.”
Yes, my dear friends, you are the unstoppable till we reach the goal of total literacy in India. I am reminded of Swami Vivekanand who had said: “Awake, Arise and Stop not till the goal is reached.”
Friends, let us attend the Presidential Conference at Kolkata from March 11–13. This is one of the five Presidential conferences. RI President K R Ravindran, Trustee Chair Ray Klinginsmith and many other dignitaries are coming to witness India’s performance and innovation in Literacy and WinS, our flagship projects. Please do not miss the opportunity as Chair Shekhar Mehta and Chair for HOC Kamal Sanghvi have planned a fascinating conference.
Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope.
—Kofi Annan
Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.
—Frederick Douglass
Manoj Desai
Director, Rotary International
