Total Literacy Campaign in Pudukkottai

This is a reflective rumination over Arivoli lyakkam (a total literacy campaign) undertaken in the spirit of a crusade in Pudukkottai, one of the smallest districts of Tamil Nadu, with an area of 4,663 square kilometres and a population of 13.2 lakh (1991 Census). It is also one of the least developed districts. Agriculture is at bare subsistence level for most of the population, about 85 per cent of the people in Pudukkottai live in villages, and industrially it is backward due to lack of infrastructure facilities, even of water and power.