Uttarakhand has been declared a "Fully Literate State" under the ULLAS-New India Literacy Programme (NILP), after meeting the literacy benchmark prescribed by the Ministry of Education.
The state achieved the status on July 8, 2026, when the declaration was approved by Uttarakhand Governor Lieutenant General (Retd.) Gurmit Singh. Uttarakhand has become the sixth state in the country to receive the status under ULLAS.
Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi on Wednesday congratulated Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and the people of Uttarakhand on the achievement and acknowledged the state's work under the ULLAS programme.
What does 'Fully Literate' mean?
Under the Centre's current definition, full literacy does not mean that every person in a state can read and write. A State or Union Territory is considered fully literate when it achieves a literacy rate of at least 95 per cent among the relevant population.
The definition also goes beyond basic reading and writing. The Ministry of Education defines literacy as the ability to read, write and compute with comprehension, along with critical life skills such as digital and financial literacy.
The 95 per cent benchmark was communicated to States and Union Territories in 2024. The government has said that a 100 per cent literacy rate is not considered feasible because of factors including advanced age and certain disabilities.
ULLAS and adult literacy
The ULLAS, or Understanding of Lifelong Learning for All in Society, programme is the Centre's adult literacy initiative under the New India Literacy Programme. It has been implemented from 2022-23 to 2026-27 and targets non-literate people aged 15 years and above who missed formal schooling.
The programme focuses on five areas: foundational literacy and numeracy, critical life skills, vocational skills, basic education and continuing education. It uses both online and offline methods, with schools and community institutions playing a role in helping adult learners.
The Centre's 2026-27 outcome framework has set a target of 10 States and Union Territories achieving full literacy during the financial year, while the national programme has a target of enrolling 1.25 crore learners during the year.
Uttarakhand joins five other states
Before Uttarakhand, Mizoram, Goa, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim had achieved full-literacy status under the ULLAS framework. Uttarakhand is now the sixth state to join the list.
The state government has said that the next focus will include digital literacy, financial literacy, continuing education and life skills, extending the work beyond the formal declaration of full literacy.