India`s "Panch Pran" goal for the following 25 years
For the ninth time in a row, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to the country from the Red Fort. In his 88-minute speech, the Prime Minister outlined his "Panch Pran Targets" (Five Resolves) to make India a developed country by the time it celebrates its 100th Independence Day in 25 years.
Standards of Developed India:
- Standards of developed India include- cleanliness campaign, vaccination, electricity connection, open defecation free, use of solar energy for developed India.
- New National Education Policy is an example of “freedom from the thought of slavery”.
- India First, Gender equality, and respect for women are symbols of unity and solidarity in country.
- Fulfilling duties such as saving electricity, chemical-free farming and full use of water available in the fields will bring progress in India.
The Five Resolves that PM asked people to take include;
- Move forward with bigger resolves and resolve of a developed India
- Erase all traces of servitude
- Be proud of India’s legacy
- Strength of unity
- Duties of citizens including PM and CMs.
According to PM, these five resolves will be significant for a developed country when country will mark 100 years of independence in 2047. These five resolves also include the PM’s dream of ‘Vishwaguru India’. PM Modi seeks to make India “Vishwaguru” on completion of 100 years of independence.
Mandla: The first district to be functionally literate
The Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh, which is predominately tribal, has emerged as India`s first fully "functionally literate" district. In the Mandla district, the literacy rate in 2011 was 68%. More over 2.25 lakh residents of this district, the majority of them were tribal members from forested areas, were illiterate, according to a report from the year 2020.
Key Points:
- Tribals were frequently complaining to authorities regarding money frauds they were facing. Main reason for this was that tribals were not functionally literate.
- To make people functionally literate, a major campaign was launched on Independence Day 2020, in association with the school education department, anganwadi & social workers, women and child development department, to educate women and senior citizens.
- With this campaign, entire district has turned into functionally literate district, within two years.
- Mandla is the first district of India to reach this mark, where people were able to write their names, read and count.
Functional Literacy:
Functional illiteracy comprises of reading and writing skills that are required to manage daily living and employment tasks. Such tasks require reading skills beyond basic level. It is opposite to illiteracy, which is defined as inability to read or write in any language. A person is called functionally literate when he or she is able to write his or her own name, count and read & write in Hindi or in language other than the predominant language
75 tribal districts identified for TB interventions
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs and the Central TB Division of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recently chose 75 high load tribal regions to eradicate tuberculosis in the coming months.
For 75 such districts, a three-pronged strategy is presented, focusing on the following:
- Generate demand for TB services through community mobilization, increasing awareness of TB symptoms, prevalence and treatment procedures, and continuing engagement with community influencers involved in the process of reducing stigma and fear associated with TB.
- To improve the delivery of TB services by provision of customized solutions by leveraging PIPs and other sources of funding to bridge the implementation gap by increasing the infrastructure of TB testing or testing and diagnosis.
- Reducing the risk and spread of disease through proactive case-detection campaigns.