From Empty Classrooms to Empty Promises: India’s Literacy Crisis in the 21st Century

By Nazmin Saikia 

India likes to talk about education as a national mission. Yet on the ground — from the northeast hills to southern metros, from fragile tribal hamlets to crowded peri-urban wards — the promise of universal, quality schooling is fraying. Government school closures, chronic teacher shortages, student protests to retain teachers, patchy digital access and persistent state-wise literacy gaps together sketch a serious problem: access does not equal learning, and enrollment does not guarantee education.

This article surveys the current situation across the country, using recent reporting, national surveys and on-the-ground incidents to identify where the system is failing and what must change.

1. Where the numbers stand: literacy and learning

Official and independent measures show mixed progress. The Periodic Labour Force Survey / PLFS (2023–24) and recent media reporting put India’s overall literacy rate at about 80–81%, with striking gaps between states and between urban and rural areas. States such as Mizoram report very high literacy (~98%), while Bihar, Rajasthan and parts of Madhya Pradesh continue to lag. (The Times of India)

On learning, the ASER 2024 rural survey suggests a recovery from the pandemic learning loss: foundational reading and arithmetic in many government schools have shown improvements compared to the low points during COVID closures. But ASER also warns that recovery is uneven and that higher-order learning and retention remain fragile without regular, supported schooling. (ASER: Annual Status of Education Report)

Bottom line: while enrollment has broadly returned, learning quality and uniform literacy remain aspirational goals — especially where school operations are disrupted or teachers are absent.

2. Empty classrooms: closures, transfers and teachers who never arrive

A leading cause of disrupted learning is the absence of qualified teachers. India continues to record very high teacher vacancy numbers — estimates in policy discourse range from hundreds of thousands of positions unfilled nationally, with shortages concentrated in rural and remote districts. Recruitment delays, contractual hiring models, low pay in some states and unattractive rural postings are reported drivers. (Shiksha)

Concrete episodes illustrate the scale of disruption:

• In Odisha’s Sundargarh district and other blocks, parents and students have physically blocked gates and staged protests to stop transfers of well-loved teachers; small primary schools with two or three teachers simply fall apart when one post is moved. (The Times of India)
  
  

• In Karnataka, student and youth organisations have called boycotts and protests over delayed appointments of guest lecturers in government colleges, affecting thousands of students. Recent statewide actions underline that higher education institutions are also strained by staffing gaps. (The Times of India)
  
  

• In Nagaland, protests and sustained agitation led the state to reverse the transfer of 33 teachers to eastern districts — a reactive measure that highlights how transfers and staffing policies can generate crises in remote zones. (EastMojo)
  
  

When a single teacher is transferred out of a small rural school, the effect is immediate: multi-grade teaching quality drops, remedial attention evaporates, and parents begin to doubt the value of sending children to school.

3. Students as activists: protests to save schools and teachers

Across states, students and local communities have taken action. From midnight marches in hill districts to sit-ins outside block offices, these protests reveal that communities value teachers and will mobilise when the system neglects them. Protests sometimes succeed in reversing transfers or prompting emergency postings, but these are stopgap solutions that do not address structural shortages. (Instagram)

Student activism also signals the depth of local loss: when learners take to the streets to demand teachers, it is because classrooms are not just empty — learning trajectories and futures are perceived to be at stake.

4. Digital exclusion: an unequal pivot to edtech

The pandemic accelerated digital education initiatives, but digital access remains patchy and inequitable. National data and reporting show that only around half of schools have reliable internet, and only slightly more than half have fully functional computers — leaving many students shut out of e-learning and hybrid models. The “digital classroom” is therefore unequal by design: urban, better-resourced children benefit, while rural learners fall further behind. (The Times of India)

Household internet penetration is also uneven — recent mapping of home internet gaps shows that significant portions of rural India still lack reliable broadband, which directly affects homework, revision and access to supplementary learning resources. (CEDA »)

5. Regional snapshots: problems from the Northeast to the South

The crisis is pan-Indian, but its shape varies by region.

• Northeast: States face acute teacher shortages and logistical barriers. Transfer policies and postings to remote districts have produced protests and reversals (Nagaland’s teacher-transfer reversal is a recent example). Geographic isolation raises costs for posting, supervision and capacity building. (EastMojo)
  
  

• East (Bihar, Odisha): Low baseline literacy and large rural populations mean teacher vacancies and school facility gaps translate directly into persistent low learning outcomes. Local actions (gating schools, protesting transfers) show community engagement but also frustration. (The Times of India)
  
  

• Central India (MP, Chhattisgarh): Forested and tribal blocks often have schools with unfilled posts and poor infrastructure; recruitment and retention are challenging. National attention to vacancies shows these states among those needing focused staffing drives. (The Times of India)
  
  

• South (Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala): While some southern states perform better on learning metrics and teacher availability, they aren’t immune: Karnataka’s mass protests over guest lecturers and state policy controversies reveal cracks even where overall indicators look healthier. (The Times of India)

6. Systemic gaps: why the machinery fails

Several recurring system failures explain empty classrooms and stalled learning:

1. Recruitment bottlenecks and ad-hoc hiring. Permanent teacher recruitment is slow; reliance on contract or guest teachers creates instability and low morale. (The Times of India)
   
   

2. Weak incentives for rural postings. Poor infrastructure and limited amenities deter qualified teachers from remote schools. (Shiksha)
   
   

3. Insufficient digital infrastructure and training. Even where devices exist, teachers and students may lack training or bandwidth to use them effectively. (The Times of India)
   
   

4. Policy–implementation gaps. State policies for transfers, vacancy clearances and remedial programs often collide with local realities, generating protests rather than solutions. (The Times of India)
   
   

These are not just administrative problems; they are structural failures that compound inequity.

7. What works: signs of recovery — and limits

ASER 2024’s finding of partial recovery in foundational skills is important: where schools function, focused foundational learning programs can yield gains. Yet recovery is fragile and regionally uneven; learning gains evaporate if classrooms periodically close or teachers are moved. (ASER: Annual Status of Education Report)

Local activism can produce immediate fixes (reinstating a teacher, blocking an ill-timed transfer), but sustainable change requires systemic policy fixes: consistent recruitment, better rural incentives, investment in reliable digital access and urgent remedial programs.

8. Policy prescriptions: bridging empty classrooms and empty promises

To move from short-term fixes to durable reform:

• Accelerate permanent recruitments with transparent, time-bound recruitment drives and clear rural allowances or housing to attract teachers to remote posts. (The Times of India)
  
  

• Professionalise contract teachers: provide training, mentorship and a transparent pathway to regularisation so that temporary hires are not perpetual second-class professionals.
  
  

• Close the digital access gap by prioritising school-level broadband, device maintenance and teacher upskilling, while expanding community-level internet access in rural areas. (The Times of India)
  
  

• Standardise transfer policies to avoid disruptive mass movements; use community consultation before major staffing changes. (The Times of India)
  
  

• Scale remedial learning and early-grade focus (reading, numeracy) nationwide, backed by ASER-style diagnostics to track real learning, not just enrollment. (ASER: Annual Status of Education Report)
  

Conclusion

Empty classrooms are a visible symptom of deeper policy shortfalls. Students’ protests, protests by parents, and sporadic policy reversals show communities care deeply — yet care alone cannot substitute for systems that reliably place qualified teachers, maintain schools and bridge digital divides. India has the policy frameworks and financial capacity to fix these problems. What it needs now is sustained political will to make teachers a priority, treat digital access as a basic public utility for learning, and ensure that a child’s future does not depend on postcode luck.

If the nation wants literacy to be more than a headline statistic, it must act where learning happens: the classroom.

Selected Sources & further reading

• ASER Centre, ASER 2024 (rural diagnostics and learning trends). (ASER: Annual Status of Education Report)
  
  

• PLFS / media coverage of literacy rate 2023–24 (80.9% headline). Times of India reporting. (The Times of India)
  
  

• “Digital divide: Working computers in just 57% of India's schools, internet in 54%” — Times of India (school infrastructure report 2023-24). (The Times of India)
  
  

• Reporting on teacher vacancies, recruitment and challenges — Times of India / recruitment overviews. (The Times of India)
  
  

• Student and parent protests to halt teacher transfers — Times of India (Sundargarh, Bonai block). (The Times of India)
  
  

• Karnataka guest lecturer protests and related actions — Times of India (AIDSO calls). (The Times of India)
  
  

Nagaland reversal of teacher transfers amid agitation — EastMojo reporting. (EastMojo)

Democracy on Trial: Land Rights, Protests, and the Criminalization of Dissent

By Nazmin Saikia

India’s rapid infrastructure expansion and corporate-led projects are reshaping land use across states. Alongside promised jobs and connectivity, a widening pattern of contested land transfers, large-scale tree felling, and local resistance has emerged — and with it, fierce debates about who benefits, who loses, and how dissent is treated. This article surveys recent, on-the-ground developments: government-backed land allotments to large firms (notably Adani group projects), allegations of giveaway land rates and mass deforestation, the response of affected communities, and the increasing tendency to brand protesters or NGOs as “anti-national.” Where possible, the piece sticks to reported facts and indicates when claims remain allegations under investigation.

1. The claims: giveaways, ₹1 leases and new projects

In September 2025, the opposition in Bihar accused the state government of allotting around 1,050 acres in Bhagalpur to Adani Power for a 2,400 MW plant at a token rate — reported by several outlets as Re 1 per year for 33 years. Congress leaders called it a “gift” and alleged coercion in how villagers parted with land. The state government and Adani have pushed back: Adani published a media release announcing a Power Supply Agreement (PSA) with Bihar for 2,400 MW, and the state government denied that land had been “gifted” in the manner alleged. The story prompted protests in Patna and intense political debate. (The Economic Times)

Why this matters: across India, governments sometimes offer long-term leases or concessional land to attract investment. But when such transfers affect farmland, forests or community commons, the optics and impacts differ sharply from transactions on industrial estates — and local communities, opposition parties and environmental groups demand clarity on valuation, consent and compensation.

2. Trees, forests and alleged clearance without consent

Several recent reports document large-scale tree-felling and forest-land diversion linked to projects slated for private or public-private developers. In Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh/Hasdeo Arand area and surrounding districts, officials and campaigners reported clearances and recommendations affecting thousands of hectares — with media and civil society highlighting potential impacts on hundreds of thousands of trees and on tribal livelihoods dependent on forest commons. One reporting thread noted official recommendations to divert 1,742.6 hectares of forest land for coal mining — an action implicating the potential loss of many lakhs of trees. Local gram sabhas and Adivasi groups said these clearances were pursued without proper consent or adequate consultation. (TaxTMI)

In Madhya Pradesh, opposition leaders including Jairam Ramesh publicly alleged that tree-felling had begun at certain Adani-linked sites without legally mandated clearances and without Gram Sabha consent, prompting protests and political attention. The state government pushed back with fact-checks and official rebuttals in some cases; nonetheless, images and local testimony of felled trees and bulldozed tracts circulated widely. (Deccan Herald)

Legal context: the Forest Rights Act (FRA) and rules under the Forest Conservation Act require gram sabha consent, rehabilitation and compensatory afforestation. When authorities proceed with felling or diversion, courts, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and central agencies often become the forum for challenges — but these procedures can be slow relative to the pace of on-ground change.

3. Local resistance: protests, arrests and claims of coercion

Across states — Assam (Kokrajhar), Chhattisgarh (Raigarh), Rajasthan (solar project protests), Maharashtra (Kalyan cement objections), Bihar (Bhagalpur) — communities have mobilized to protest land transfers, tree-felling or project siting. Media coverage records thousands of objections in public hearings (for instance in the proposed Ambuja/Adani cement unit near Kalyan), arrests during sit-ins (e.g., Jaisalmer solar protests), and mass demonstrations in district headquarters. Often protests focus on fears of loss of livelihood, groundwater depletion, pollution, or the end of commons that sustained communities for generations. (Business & Human Rights Resource Centre)

Protesters say they are frequently pressured to accept agreements, or that authorities fast-track land records changes. Local reports from ground-level outlets have included allegations that villagers were “forced” or misinformed into signing land transfer documents; state authorities routinely deny coercion and say due procedures were followed.

4. The legal and media response — injunctions, takedowns and “anti-national” rhetoric

A striking part of the contemporary landscape is how resistance and reporting are being policed through both law and public discourse.

• Courts have issued interim restraining orders in some cases: for example, a Delhi court recently restrained certain activists and journalists from publishing alleged defamatory material about a corporate group, directing removal of unverified content. Such injunctions can curb the spread of unverified allegations but also raise questions about chilling effects on public interest journalism. (www.ndtv.com)
  
  

• Governments and agencies have at times framed NGOs opposed to projects as improperly funded or as acting at foreign behest — charges that have led to raids, regulatory scrutiny, and criminal investigations in certain previous high-profile cases. Such actions raise legal issues about foreign funding rules, transparency and whether these measures are proportionate. (www.ndtv.com)
  
  

• Politically charged language — branding protest as “anti-national” or equating criticism of a project with obstructionism — has appeared in debates and public statements. In some protests against Adani group projects, demonstrators have been detained; in parliamentary and media exchanges, political leaders have used strong rhetoric that casts dissent as destabilizing. While security concerns can justify measured enforcement, critics argue language that delegitimizes dissent narrows democratic space.

5. Corporate and state narratives: jobs, investment and due process

State governments and corporations argue that major projects bring significant benefits: long-term employment, power or transport infrastructure, local investment and ancillary development. Adani’s public statements emphasize PSAs, job creation pledges and long-term power supply contracts (for example, the PSA with Bihar for 2,400 MW). Government spokespeople in several states said the projects underwent statutory clearances and were necessary for regional development. (Adani)

Where the controversy centers is at the intersection of scale and safeguards: when very large tracts are leased or when leases are on highly concessional terms, or when forest land is reclassified as “barren” for industrial use, communities and opposition parties demand robust evidence of due process — independent environmental impact assessments (EIAs), certified consent under FRA, clear valuation and transparent competitive bidding for public land.

6. What the reporting shows — and what remains contested

From the recent reportage the picture is mixed but clear on key facts:

• Projects are proceeding rapidly in several states; formal announcements, PSAs and MOUs appear in the public record. (Adani)
  
  

• Communities and civil society report large-scale tree felling and land conversion, alleging that statutory processes like gram sabha consent were bypassed in places; these claims have triggered protests and, in some cases, police action. (The Wire)
  
  

• Political opposition has seized on apparent concessional terms (the “₹1” narrative in Bihar), turning allocation terms into a major campaign issue; state governments have, in turn, publicly denied improper gifting. (The Economic Times)
  
  

• Courts and regulators are active: some injunctions have limited speech or reporting in specific cases, while tribunals are hearing environmental challenges; outcomes are pending, and litigation timelines are long. (www.ndtv.com)
  
  

What is harder to assert categorically — and must await independent audit or judicial findings — is whether any given land transfer involved criminal corruption, or whether procedural lapses stemmed from administrative haste rather than malfeasance. Several high-profile allegations (including questions about earlier corporate-state linkages) are politically explosive and under continuing investigation or debate.

7. Why this matters for democracy

Land and forests are not merely economic assets: they are the material basis for community life, identity and food security for millions of Indians, particularly tribals and smallholders. When large projects override local consent, two democratic risks arise:

1. Erosion of procedural legitimacy: If people feel decisions are taken over their heads — especially for Commons and forest land — the social licence for projects collapses, making conflict likelier and governance costlier.
   
   

2. Shrinking civic space: When activists, journalists or local leaders face gag orders, criminal probes, or are publicly vilified as “anti-national,” the democratic forum for airing grievances shrinks. Robust debate, transparent adjudication of grievances, and timely remedy mechanisms are the lifeblood of accountable governance.

3. 
   
   
   

8. Paths forward: transparency, consent and accountability

To reduce conflict and protect both livelihoods and legitimate development needs, three measures recur in expert and civil-society recommendations:

• Full, accessible disclosure of land deals: deeds, lease terms, valuations, and benefit-sharing arrangements should be available in public portals so affected communities and independent auditors can verify fairness.
  
  

• Gram Sabha and FRA compliance: where forest and tribal lands are involved, strict adherence to Gram Sabha consent and statutory safeguards must be non-negotiable. Independent verification of consent should be possible.
  
  

• Independent environmental audits and fast judicial review: EIAs, compensatory afforestation plans and biodiversity impact statements should be independently audited, and environmental tribunals should be empowered to issue rapid interim relief when communities face displacement.
  
  

Reaching durable solutions requires not just legal remedies but political will to treat dissent as a democratic right rather than a security threat.

Conclusion

India’s development pathway need not be binary — either growth or tribal livelihoods. But current flashpoints — from Bhagalpur to Raigarh, from Kokrajhar to Kalyan — show what happens when governance processes, community consent and environmental safeguards are perceived to be weak. That perception fuels protest; how the state responds — with transparency, remediation and respect for dissent — will determine whether democracy is strengthened or further strained.

Sources & further reading (selected)

• Congress alleges 1,050 acres given to Adani at Re 1; Bihar government rejects charge. Economic Times, India Today, Adani PSA. (The Economic Times)
  
  

• Reports of massive tree felling and forest-land diversion (Hasdeo Arand / Raigarh). TaxTMi / reporting on official recommendation; The Wire coverage of on-ground actions. (TaxTMI)
  
  

• Jairam Ramesh and reports of tree-felling in Madhya Pradesh sites. Deccan Herald. (Deccan Herald)
  
  

• Protests and local resistance: Kokrajhar/Assam and other local reports compiled by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. (Business & Human Rights Resource Centre)
  
  

• Injunctions and court orders on activists/journalists: Delhi court interim restraining order reported by NDTV. (www.ndtv.com)
  
  

• Broader legal challenges and Adani projects in tribunals: Reuters reporting on Adani legal and environmental challenges. (Reuters)