Shimla, Sept. 9 -- Declaring Himachal a 'fully literate state,' chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Monday announced that the state has reached a 99.3% literacy rate, higher than the national benchmark of 95%.

After Goa, Tripura and Mizoram, Himachal has now achieved the distinction of becoming a fully literate state, shared education minister Rohit Thakur.

The state was declared fully literate as per the guidelines of Ullas, a centrally sponsored scheme for literacy.

Extending his greetings to the people of the state, the CM said, "As a result of reforms introduced by the present government, the literacy rate in Himachal Pradesh had reached to 99.3% which is higher than the national benchmark of 95% with state ranking first in th...