According to the 2001 census, Bihar has the worst female literacy rate in India. On International Literacy Day, the government has launched an ambitious project towards female literacy, promising literacy to lakhs of women in just six months. But sceptics ask - will it work?

''When I go to the ration shop, I get supplies for only one month but made to give thumb impressions on receipts for several months. I am illiterate, so I can't argue,'' said Veena Devi, resident of Nawada village.

She could be any woman in any village in Bihar because this is a state where 67 per cent women, mostly from the rural belts are illiterate.

2.7 crore women in Bihar are illiterate. On International Literacy Day, Bihar has promised to change that statistic: It  says it will make 40 lakh women literate in just six months.
 
''We will open literacy centres, draw in volunteers from amongst our teaching staff. The idea is that every literate person will make 20 women literate. Classes will be held in the afternoons in our schools, when most women are free from household work. We will monitor this scheme effectively,'' Anjani Kumar Singh, principal secretary, Human Resource Development Ministry, Bihar.

Critics say it will most probably end up as a quick-fix literacy programme, not a learning experience.

''Literacy cannot be just about making people learn how to sign their names. The government will have to ensure there is good study material, the people who impart this teaching have a certain standard, and motivation, and that there is some kind of infrastructure for this,'' said I C Kumar, educationist.