(a) whether the Government has assessed the literacy rate of different States/`UTs ;
(b) if so, the details thereof, State-wise;
(c) whether any gap has been observed by the Government in the literacy rate
prevailing amongst male/female alongwith SC, ST, OBC, etc. ;
(d) if so, the details thereof; and
(e) the steps taken by the Government to bridge the gap in the literacy rate alongwith
the States identified to be most backward in education ?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SHRI M.A.A. FATMI)
(a) to (d): Literacy rates are compiled and released decennially by the Registrar General& Census
Commissioner of India. A statement indicating the State-wise literacy rates of males and
females along with those of Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), as per
Census 2001 data, is enclosed as Annexure. The male-female literacy gap has reduced
from 24.84% in 1991 to 21.59% in 2001. The literacy rate of Scheduled Castes has also
increased by 17.28% and that of Scheduled Tribes by 17.5%, as against the overall
increase of 12.63% for all categories during the same period. According to the Registrar
General & Census Commissioners of India, the literacy data on Other Backward Castes
(OBCs) is not collected by them.
(e): The universalisation of elementary education and eradication of adult illiteracy form
the two-pronged strategy for improving the literacy rate of the country. Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyan (SSA) is a comprehensive programme for universalizing quality Elementary
Education by 2010. Two programmes for education of girls at elementary level-the
National Programme for Education of Girls at Elementary Level (NPEGEL) and Kasturba
Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) have also been launched in the educationally backward
blocks of the States to reach out to out-of-school girls, working girls, overage girls who
have not completed elementary education and girls from marginalized social groups.
The National Literacy Mission (NLM) is entrusted with the target of achieving a
sustainable threshold level of 75% literacy by 2007. The thrust areas of NLM are
improving female literacy in low female literacy areas, organizing projects for
eradication of residual illiteracy in districts which have substantial number of illiterates,
setting up of continuing education centres for providing opportunities for life-long
learning to the neo-literates and imparting vocational training to neo-literates through
Jan Shikshan Sansthans. With the implementation of these programmes, the literacy
rates of females along with that of SCs & STs will improve further. Recently, a special
literacy drive for eradication of residual illiteracy in 150 districts, which have the lowest
literacy rates in the country, has also been launched. These districts are in the States of
Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jammu &
Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kamataka, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab,
Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) to (d) of the Lok Sahha Unstarred Question
No.4090 for 20.12.2005 regarding literacy rate in the country
Statement showing the State-wise Literacy Kates of Male/Female, Scheduled Castes
nd Scheduled Tribes