TAXILA, June 23: The National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) has said that 3,633 women have been enrolled in the 147 literacy centres of Taxila and Wah Cantonment and was planing to enrol all illiterate women in the region.

NCHD District Literacy Officer Iftikhar Khan, while talking to the media here on Friday, said that the enrolled women were in the age group of 11 to 49 years.

“Currently 147 women have been provided employment opportunities at their doorsteps; 20 literacy centres are working in Khurrum Paracha, 27 Gheela Khurd, 20 Usman Khattar, 24 Mohara Shah Wali, 23 Gari Sikandar and 37 literacy centres are working in Heavy Industries Taxila Colony and Heavy Mechanical Complex Colony Taxila,” he said.

Mr Khan said that 2,506 women were enrolled in NCHD’s 100 literacy centres last year and 2,143 of them completed their courses. Free books and teaching aids were being provided free of cost to the students as well as teachers. NCHD was focusing on minorities and was planing to establish as many as 50 literacy centres during the current year, he added.

He said adult literacy programme was a cost effective and time-bound intervention. Over the past two and a half years, the programme has exceeded its targets. The programme was currently functional in 114 districts of the country. The specific objectives of the literacy programme was to achieve 86 per cent literacy rate by 2015.