A large number of population still depends on thumbprint in Banke

Banke–Banke, the district in southern plain of Province 5, does not hesitate to produce annual report showing the gradual progress in the status of literacy in the district. But the reality is that over 80,000 people here are still illiterate. 

Illiteracy is not only the issue of rural areas but is also prevalent in areas inside the Nepalgunj sub metropolis, one of the major cities in the district. 

The number of population who cannot read and write occupies a noticeable portion at the wards number 1 and 24 of the Nepalgunj sub-metropolis. These wards have been already declared 'literate zones'. 

According to a local Yam Shrestha, the number of illiterates can be counted in many at the then Naubasta Village Development Committee (now the part of sub metropolis). Likewise, in the Narainapur rural municipality adjoining to the sub metropolis, around 12,000 people are illiterate. 

These examples may be enough to claim that the progress regarding the literacy campaign is limited only in papers. 
According to the government statistics, 50,469 women and 34,615 men are still unable to read and write in the district, home to 504,548 people. It means that illiterates are counted not in hundred, but in thousands. 

The case of Narainapur provides a ground to calculate the situation of other areas, mainly rural municipalities, but the then District Education Office (DEO) and the existing Education Development and Coordination Unit ( EDCU) have no official data about it. The then DEO, Banke's assistant district education officer Gorkha Bahadur Thapa said they lacked an authentic data about the status of illiteracy in the district. 

As he said, a survey is going on the rural municipalities to find the fact. They are now unable to give the exact figure about this. "However, collecting data about it was of the office responsibility," he admitted. 

The National Planning Commission report shows the 56 per cent literacy rate in the district, it means that 44 per cent of the district’s population depends on fingerprint for official and legal affairs. At the local level, no significant progress is perceived. 
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