Yesterday, Monday, September 8, Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu announced that Himachal Pradesh is officially India's fourth entirely literate state. Himachal Pradesh, along with Mizoram, Tripura, and Goa, has a literacy rate of 99.3 per cent, which is higher than the national average of 95 per cent.

Sukhu made the statement on International Literacy Day, September 8, as part of the ULLAS (Understanding of Lifelong Learning for All in Society) campaign, Hindustan Times reports. 

"At the time of Independence, the entire country was known as illiterate, and Himachal's literacy rate was just 7 per cent. After 78 years of Independence, Himachal has become a fully literate state," said Sukhu in his address.

He also spoke about how he and his siblings were able to receive education due to the hard work of his mother and father, who studied only up to the fifth and seventh grades, respectively. 

In a video message, Union Education Secretary Sanjay Kumar congratulated Himachal on its achievement and underlined the significance of imparting skill-based education to the newly literate.

Rohit Thakur, the state's education minister, described it as a golden day in history. 

“The Himachal government spends 17 per cent to 18 per cent of the total state budget on education. We have taken many major steps in the field of education. During the previous government, Himachal was ranked 21st in the country in education; we faced big challenges but overcame them with collective effort,” he said.

He said that the dropout rate in the state had now come down to almost zero.