Kollam, March 15, 2020: The two grandmothers who won the Nari Shakti Puraskar, met each other for the first time.
On her way home after receiving India’s highest civilian award for recognizing the achievements and contributions of women from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Karthyayani Amma visited Bhageerathi Amma at Prakkulam in the Kollam district of Kerala.
Karthyayani Amma shared the joy of visiting New Delhi and meeting the President and Prime Minister. Karthyayani Amma shared her wish to have Bhageerathi Amma with her to receive the award.
Owing to age related ailments, Bhageerathi Amma could not go to New Delhi for the award function.
On meeting each other on March 11, the two elderly women warmly embraced each other and behaved like children. 96-year-old Karthyayani Amma also sang songs for the 105-year-old Bhageerathi Amma. The two spoke for a long time regarding studying further.
Karthyayani Amma visited district Collector B. Abdul Nazar, who coordinated her trip to receive the award, at the Kollam collectorate.
The dollector presented Karthyayani Amma with a ‘ponnada.’ In return, Karthyayani Amma also presented a shawl to the collector as a token of appreciation.
Literacy mission district coordinator C. K. Pradeep Kumar and literacy trainer Sathi were among those present.
On February 11, Bhageerathi Amma, who appeared for the fourth standard equivalency examination, came out in flying colors, making her the oldest student in the country to clear the papers.
She had appeared for the examination, conducted by the Kerala state literacy mission, at Kollam in 2019.
The elderly woman, who had always yearned to study and gain knowledge, had to give up her dream of educating herself after her mother died as she had to take care of her younger siblings.
Fate dealt another blow when she became a widow in her thirties and had to shoulder the responsibility of bringing up her six children.
Due to her advanced age, she had difficulty in writing the exams and took three days to complete the 3 question papers on Environment, Mathematics and Malayalam, literacy mission sources said.
Bhageerathi Amma, who had left formal education in class three at the age of 9, became the oldest ‘equivalency learner’ in the Kerala State Literacy Mission program to date.
She scored 205 out of a total of 275 marks and scored full marks in mathematics. One of her six children and 3 of her 15 grandchildren are no more. The woman has 12 grand and great-grandchildren.
Bhageerathi Amma said she was keen to appear for the tenth standard equivalency examination.
A total of 11,593 candidates wrote the fourth standard equivalency examination of which 10,012, including 9456 women, cleared it, a literacy mission release said.
Ninetysix-year-old Karthiyani Amma had secured 98 marks out of 100 in “Akshra Laksham,” a flagship program of the state-run Kerala State Literacy Mission Authority in October 2018 and became a role model for thousands of people who wish to be part of the literacy programs.
The aim of the Literacy Mission is to make the state fully literate in four years.
According to the 2011 census, there were around 1.85 million illiterates in the state.
To wipe out illiteracy completely, the Mission has chalked out several programs, especially among marginalized groups such as tribals, fisherfolk and slum dwellers.
Source: mathrubhumi.com