Illiteracy is a plot on the fair name of democracy in India. Although we have been celebrating our freedom, most of the people living in the villages and slums are unable decipher what the leaders are talking about. The reason is obvious, they are illiterate. They can't read or write. Poverty,ignorance and lack of opportunities have deprived them of the fruits of literacy and knowledge. Education broadens our outlooks by interaction with the master minds and geniuses of the age. Illiteracy is the real handicap in the progress of a democratic society.