Jagan hits back at Lokesh over literacy claim, accuses government of misleading

Metro India News | AMARAVATI

Former Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday strongly criticized the Chandrababu Naidu-led coalition government over Education Minister Nara Lokesh’s claim that Andhra Pradesh’s literacy rate had increased from 72.6 per cent in 2024 to 82.1 per cent in 2026. Reacting on ‘X’, Jagan said he was shocked by the government’s false propaganda. He questioned how literacy figures for 2026 could be announced when the calendar year was yet to be completed and, according to him, no official agency had released such data.

Jagan cited the Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS) 2023-24 annual report released by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation. He said the report recorded Andhra Pradesh’s literacy rate among people aged seven and above at 72.6 per cent for the period from June 2023 to June 2024, compared with 69.1 per cent in 2018-19. He further referred to the PLFS 2025 report, which he said was published on July 2, 2026.

According to Jagan, the report put the State’s literacy rate at 71.4 per cent for January-December 2025. With these figures available, Jagan alleged that the government was attempting to mislead people through what he called false claims. He also alleged that data from the Union Education Ministry’s UDISE system indicated declining enrolment in government schools alongside increasing enrolment in private schools under the present government’s policies. He described the trend as a matter of concern, particularly for children from economically weaker sections.

Jagan said the government should focus on making education more accessible to disadvantaged children instead of engaging in what he termed deceptive publicity campaigns. Targeting Lokesh, Jagan said the Education Minister should devote more time to his department and educational issues rather than what he described as “Red Book governance.”