Dharmendra Pradhan kickstarts 'Padhe Bharat' program, urges kids to inculcate reading habit

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday launched a 100-day reading campaign, 'Padhe Bharat'. The launch of the campaign is in alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

New Delhi: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday launched a 100-day reading campaign, 'Padhe Bharat'. The launch of the campaign is in alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which emphasizes the promotion of joyful reading culture for children by availing for them age-appropriate books of various sorts, according to a press release.

The Minister, while launching the campaign, said that children need to develop a reading habit in order to ensure continuous and lifelong learning.

He also noted that the habit of reading, if inculcated at an early age, helps in brain development as well as enhancement of imagination in the child.

"Reading is the foundation of learning, which motivates students to read books independently, develops creativity, critical thinking, vocabulary and the ability to express both verbally and in writing. It helps children to relate to their surroundings and real-life situation", he said.

He stressed the need to create an enabling environment in which students read for pleasure and develop their skills through a process that is enjoyable and sustainable and which remains with them for life.

Pradhan shared the names of the 5 books that he has picked to begin reading. He encouraged everyone to adopt the habit of reading books and urged all to share what they are reading along with suggestions.

The Padhe Bharat campaign will focus on children studying in kindergarten to Grade 8. The reading campaign will be organized for 100 days (14 weeks) starting from January 1, 2022, to April 10, 2022.

The campaign aims to have the participation of all stakeholders at national as well as state level, including children, teachers, parents, community, educational administrators, etc.