What is the New India Literacy Programme (NILP)?

About New India Literacy Programme (NILP):

• It aims to support the States and Union Territories in promoting literacy among non-literates in the age group of 15 and above.
• It is a centrally sponsored scheme with a financial outlay of Rs.1037.90 crore for implementation during FYs 2022-23 to 2026-27.
• It aims to onboard one crore learners per year above 15 years across all States and Union Territories.
• The scheme has five components, namely;
  • Foundational Literacy and Numeracy,
  • Critical Life Skills: These include financial literacy, digital literacy, legal literacy, healthcare and awareness, childcare and education, family welfare, etc.
  • Basic Education: It includes preparatory (classes 3-5), middle (classes 6-8), and secondary stage (classes 9-12) equivalency.
  • Vocational Skills: Skill development will be a part of the continuous learning process for neo-literates to obtain local employment.
  • Continuing Education: It includes engaging in holistic adult education courses in arts, sciences, technology, culture, sports, recreation, as well as other topics of interest or use to local learners.
• The beneficiaries under the scheme are identified through door-to-door surveys on the mobile app by the surveyors in the States/UTs. 
• The nonliterate can also avail the benefit of the scheme through direct registration from any place through mobile app. 
• The scheme is mainly based on volunteerism for teaching and learning. Volunteers can also register through a mobile app for this purpose.
• The scheme is based on technology and implemented predominantly through online mode. 
• The teaching learning material and resources have been made available on the DIKSHA platform of NCERT and can be accessed through the mobile apps. 
• Further, other modes like TV, Radio, Samajik Chetna Kendra are also to be used for dissemination of foundational literacy and numeracy.
• It will encourage the formation and involvement of SHGs, voluntary and user groups and other community-based organizations.
• Definition of Literacy:
  • Literacy may be understood as the ability to read, write, and compute with comprehension, that is, to identify, understand, interpret, and create, along with critical life skills such as digital and financial literacy. 
  • Full literacy (to be considered equivalent to 100% literacy) will be achieving 95% literacy in a State or Union Territory.
  • A non-literate person may be considered as literate under the NILP, as per the aforementioned definition, when he/she has been declared literate after taking the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Assessment Test (FLNAT).