Education ministry launches 100-day reading campaign

• Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched a 100-day reading campaign 'Padhe Bharat on 1st January 2022.
• Initiated in alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the campaign aims to promote joyful reading culture for children by ensuring the availability of age-appropriate reading books in local/mother tongue/regional/tribal Language.
• The reading campaign will be organised for 100 days (14 weeks) starting from January 2022 to April 2022.

About this Campaign

• Padhe Bharat campaign will focus on children studying in Balvatika to Grade 8.
• The reading campaign aims to initiate participation of all stakeholders at the national and state level including children, teachers, parents, community, educational administrators etc.
• One activity per week per group has been designed by the government that focuses on making reading enjoyable and building a lifelong association with the joy of reading.
• Moreover, this campaign has also been aligned with the vision and goals of the foundational “Literacy and Numeracy mission”.
• The 100 days reading campaign will popularise reading in Indian languages encompassing mother tongue/local/regional languages.
• To achieve this goal, 21st February which is celebrated as International Mother Tongue Day, has also been integrated into the campaign.
• This day will be celebrated with the activity of “KahaniPadhoApniBhasa Main” (Reading story in own language) across India by encouraging children to read in their mother tongue/local language.
• The initiative will have a nationwide reach to promote the local language and culture of Indian society.