ULLAS Initiative: Sikkim Declared India’s Fifth Fully Literate State

Key facts

• Sikkim has been declared a fully literate State under the Understanding Lifelong Learning for All in Society (ULLAS) programme, also known as the Nav Bharat Saaksharta Karyakram.
• The recognition was granted by the Ministry of Education under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 framework during a ceremony attended by President Droupadi Murmu in Gangtok.
• Sikkim is the fifth State to achieve this status, following Mizoram, Goa, Tripura, and Himachal Pradesh, while Chandigarh and Ladakh are the two Union Territories (UTs) to reach this milestone.
• Under the ULLAS framework, a State is considered fully literate when adult literacy levels for individuals aged 15 and above reach approximately 95 per cent.
• Mizoram was the first State to be declared fully literate in 2025 with a 98.2 per cent literacy rate, followed by Goa, Tripura (95.6 per cent), and Himachal Pradesh (99.3 per cent).