Mention the steps taken to improve the literacy rates of women by the government

The government has initiated many projects to improve the literacy rate of women in India. Some of them have been discussed below:National Policy on Education:The national policy on education is a smaller branch or segment of the National Education for women. It has a positive influence in the empowerment of women. It propagates new values through redesigned text books, curriculums, and stationary and so on. All these materials have been modeled to suit the needs of women accordingly.

Sakshaar Bharat Mission for Female literacyThis was launched in 2001, to prevent the alarming drop in female education. Its aim was to reduce the illiteracy rate of women by half. In spite of being new in the arena, it has managed to do its share.

Indian Shiksha Karmi ProjectThis project is all about sharing power through education. This project tries to preach the ignorant Indian population that women too can rise to be on the top after acquiring education. This plan is co-supported by the Swedish Government and it is in vogue in Rajasthan.

Training of Female teachersTraining women to educate the nation is also another forte of the Indian Shiksha Karmi Project. This plan educates them about all the technical know-hows that are required to become a teacher.

Scholarships for herThe ignorant section of the society always roots for the education of their sons. Due to several biases and superstitions they ignore the education of their daughters. But when questioned they smartly put up answers citing financial difficulties. Several scholarships have been introduced by the central as well as the state government such as the Single girl child scholarship for women, Scholarship for women scientists and so on. Several scholarships such as the Maulana Azad national Scholarship have been launched to assist meritorious girl Students belonging from minority communities. These are an answer to the qualms that were earlier cited by the families of women for not being able to educate them.

Mahila Samakhya ProgramThis initiative was taken by the government in 1988, in accordance with the New Education Policy of 1968. This group was launched as a rural wing of the Sarva Siksha Abhijan (SSA). It was launched mainly to help and empower the weaker section of rural women.

Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya SchemeIt was launched in the month of July in 2004. Its main aim is to serve girls from backward classes and those having financial difficulties. Nowadays these schools take up about 75% of students from backward classes and 25% from BPL (Below Poverty Level). 54.16% of women from the backward classes are now with education according to the 2001 census report.

National Program for Education of Girls at Elementary LevelThis is also another wing of the SSA. It reaches to the remote places where the SSA cannot reach. This program has uplifted the education standards of several women across the backward provinces of Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Bihar and so on. The female literacy rate grew from 53.67% to 65.46% as per 2011 Census data. The male literacy rate in comparison rose from 75.26% to only 82.14%. So the literacy rate of women is improving at a better rate than for men, thanks to different initiatives by the state governments as well as the central government.

Many women from the backward provinces of India now have primary education. People, who earlier thought that educating women was a waste of time, are now having second thoughts. The above mentioned policies introduced by the Indian Government have improved the education status of women but still lot of work needs to be done.