This southern Kerala city, known for its affluent and enterprising Syrian Christian community, has many sobriquets. But the one the residents love best is Akshara Nagari (city of letters) that points to the large number of newspaper-and-magazine publishing houses in the city and highlights that this is the first fully literate city in India.

Twenty-five years ago last month, Kottayam was declared the first town in the country to be 100 per cent literate following a ‘100 days, 100 per cent literacy’ campaign that opened the window of the written word for more than 2,000 poor people.

“Kottayam’s people-led volunteer-based initiative has become a role model for the literacy campaign in the country and the National Literacy Mission has adopted its ‘each one, teach one’ strategy,” Alphonse Kannanthanam, the then district collector of Kottayam, told Business Line . (Kannanthanam, who later quit the IAS to become a LDF-supported MLA, is now on the BJP national executive council.)

Volunteerism is key

“As a tenth-grade schoolgirl, I was thrilled to teach the alphabet to people three or four times my age,” recalls Indulekha Appukuttan, who taught 17 persons aged 13 to 68 to read and write. She said many of her ‘pupils’ were shy to admit that they were illiterate. She used to go to their homes and sometimes stay back late into the evening helping them step into the world of letters. “I am still proud of my work done 25 years ago,” Indulekha who had won an award for her efforts and who now works for the Kottayam municipality, says. Many of her pupils carried on their adventure and gain the tenth-grade certificate through the informal education stream.

A survey carried out by the National Service Scheme of the Kottayam-based Mahatma Gandhi University had found that 2,200 city residents were illiterate. The NSS chief, Thomas Abraham, suggested to the then vice-chancellor, U.R. Ananthamurthy, that the NSS launch a literacy project. Ananthamurthy, a Kannada writer and sociologist, was excited and got the district administration involved.

“But, the idea of the 100 per cent literate Kottayam came from Dominic Chacko Kizhakemuri, founder of the publishing firm D.C. Books,” recalls Kannanthanam. “As the Collector, I became the chief coordinator and put my heart into the project.” Kizhakemuri’s son Ravi Deecee said his father was deeply involved and coined the ‘100 days, 100 per cent literacy’ slogan.

Mass Support

The campaign drew support from the people, NGOs, media and government. Hundreds of volunteers, including schoolchildren, poured in to help. They were trained by the NSS to at least ‘read a newspaper and write a letter.’ Teaching was linked to the daily needs of the pupils, who were provided free books and pencils. The old ones were given free spectacles.

The campaign turned out to be a long people’s celebration. “We also chipped in 18 other campaigns along with the literacy drive-like ‘plant more trees,’ ‘clean city,’ and ‘quit alcohol’ efforts.” Kannanthanam said. “It was a huge success.”

On June 25, 1989, Kottayam was declared the country’s first ‘100 per cent literate town.’ “It brought a lot of national and international attention to Kottayam,” Municipal Chairman A.P. Santhosh Kumar said. But does the spirit of 1989 continue into the silver jubilee year? “We are now thinking of a ‘100 per cent computer-literate Kottayam’ project,” Kumar said. “We are also considering a program to free the city from the vice of drinking.”

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