The country’s literacy rate has risen to 71 per cent from 46 per cent in 2009, according to statistics placed by Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in Parliament on Thursday.

‘The literacy rate was 46.15 percent on January 1, 2009 (Statistical Year Book Bangladesh 2009). Now the literacy rate is 71 percent (Bangladesh Sample Vital Statistics 2016),’ he said while replying to a question from treasury bench MP AKM Zahangir Hossain (Patuakhali-3), reports the UNB.

The minister said the literacy rate among men is 73 per cent, while 68.9 per cent among women.

In reply to another starred question from Jatiya Party MP Nurul Islam Milon (Comilla-8), the minister said the poverty rate has declined to 22.3 per cent and the number of people who are living under the poverty line in the country is 3,56,58,000.

Mustafa Kamal said the main goal of the 7th five-year plan is alleviating poverty rapidly and bringing down the extreme poverty rate to 8.9 per cent by 2020.