President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday unveiled a statue of late P.N. Panicker at Poojappura in Thiruvananthapuram and said he wanted to remove the evil of illiteracy.
The President said Panicker spread an important message - "Vayichu Valaruka" which means "Read and Grow".
He said that Panicker made libraries and literacy a movement of the people.
"It is a unique feature of Kerala that in every village, even in the remotest villages, there is a library and people feel an emotional connect with the library in their village or town just as they feel a special connection with the temple or church or mosque or school in their village or town," Kovind said, according to a release by the President's Secretariat.
He noted that libraries created by the movement of Panicker later became a nerve centre of all social and cultural activities of which the literacy movement of Kerala is an impressive example.
"The credit for libraries having a central place in the culture of Kerala goes to Shri P.N. Panicker who connected common people to libraries. The Granthashala Sangam started by Shri Panicker with about 50 small libraries in 1945 grew into a large network of thousands of libraries."
The President said that Kerala displays India at its cultural and harmonious best.
"Recently, when the Covid-pandemic affected the entire world, nurses and doctors from Kerala were among the most visible Covid-warriors in India, the middle-east and so many other regions on the globe. The people of Kerala enhance the pride of India," he said.
Pointing to the fact that Kerala became the first State to have a hundred per cent literacy, the President said that the 'Sakshara Keralam' movement became popular and effective due to the foundations laid down by Panicker.
The President said that observing the birthday of Panicker on 19th June as 'Reading Day' is the most appropriate way of paying tribute to the great nation builder.
( With inputs from ANI )
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