The present study examines the role of Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) in the implementation of the ULLAS – Nav Bharat Saaksharta Karyakram, a national adult literacy initiative in India. The study adopted a descriptive, non-experimental research design and was conducted across three districts of Uttarakhand—Pauri Garhwal, Rudraprayag, and Tehri Garhwal. A purposive sample of 210 participants, including teacher educators, student-teachers, ULLAS volunteers, and district literacy officials, was selected to capture multiple stakeholder perspectives. Data were collected using standardised instruments measuring TEI Institutional Support, TEI–Community Engagement, and ULLAS Implementation Effectiveness, along with a structured checklist for assessing volunteer performance. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression analysis were employed to analyse the data. The findings revealed moderately high levels of institutional support, community engagement, and programme effectiveness. Significant positive relationships were observed among the key variables. Regression analysis indicated that TEI Institutional Support was the strongest predictor of ULLAS implementation effectiveness, followed by TEI–Community Engagement. The results highlight the critical role of TEIs in enhancing volunteer performance, learner participation, and the integration of digital literacy components. The study concludes that structured and sustained collaboration between TEIs and ULLAS centres can significantly improve the quality and effectiveness of adult literacy programmes. The findings have important implications for policy, practice, and teacher education, particularly in strengthening institutional involvement in community-based educational initiatives.
Sahu et al. (Wed,) studied this question.