Journal of Global Resources

Volume 3

July 2016
Page 32-42
ISSN: 2395-3160 (Print), 2455-2445 (Online)

4
A COMPARATIVE GEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS OF RURAL-URBANLITERACY LEVELSIN AJMER DIVISION
Sawan Kumar Jangid1 and Bhagya Shree Saraswat2
1

Associate professor in Geography,
Department of Geography, M.L.V. Govt. College Bhilwara (Raj.), India
Email: sawan.jangid@yahoo.com
2

Research Scholar, Department of Geography, Rajasthan Vidya Peeth, Udaipur (Raj.), India

Abstract: Literacy is the primary indicator of development of society. The present paper isbased on the census data for the year of 2011. Literacy is defines by census as the ability toread and write with understanding excluding the population age group 0-6. The main objectiveof present study is to find the level of literacy and social ecology of rural-urban literacy. The
paper is focused to analyse a comparatively geographical analysis of rural-urban literacy levelin Ajmer division of Rajasthan state. It is focused to measure the relationship between literacy
and various socio-economic variables like density of population, sex ratio, urban population,
total workers, scheduled caste, scheduled tribe population and percent workers engaged in
non agricultural activities using regression coefficient and coefficient of determination. The
rural and urban literacy rate of Ajmer division is 58.79 and 78.64 percent respectively. Beawar
tehsil registered highest rural literacy rate (68.64%) and Sarwar tehsil registered lowest rural
literacy rate (50.80%) in Ajmer division in 2011. Nasirabad tehsil registered highest urban
literacy rate (88.39%) and Sarwar tehsil registered lowest urban literacy rate in Ajmer divisionin 2011 (64.56%). It is suggested that there is a need to extend the educational infrastructure
facilities within the rural areas. Literacy and educational acquisition will bring improvement anddevelopment in rural areas. Rural literacy is about 20 percent less than the urban literacy. The
rural population lags behind its urban counterpart in the literacy rates. The main factors behind
this difference are social life and economic patterns of urban places, educational facilities,
awareness, economic capability.
Key words: Literacy, Relationship, Regression, Suggested, Infrastructure, Counterpart.
Introduction
Literacy is primary factor of economic and social development in a region. Literacy is aqualitative attribute of population which is fair index of socio-economic development of thearea. Literacy and education are essential for social reconstruction, improvement in the qualityof the life and preparation of manpower for rapid development. However, literacy works formoulding the younger generation to assume the future responsibilities and develop
appropriate values of life. On the other hand, the lack of literacy can certainly be an obstacle inthe development process. A certain level of literacy is, therefore, a basic requirement for thepeople to get out of ignorance and backwardness. Thus literacy is essential for economic
development and social advancement which measure overall development of a country.
Literacy is defined by census as the ability to read and write with understanding excluding the32population age group 0-6. The main objective of present study is to find the level of literacy
and social ecology of rural-urban literacy.
Objective of the Study
The main objective of present research paper is to study the level of urban-rural literacy andsocio-ecology of urban-rural literacy. The social life and economic patterns of urban places are
such that the “need to get educated is more in urban areas than in agricultural countryside”.
1. Educational facilities are concentrated more in urban areas while these may becompletely absent in certain rural areas.
2. Urban population is socially more awakened and economically more capable ofimparting education to their children in comparison to rural population.
3. Urban females enjoy relatively higher status in comparison to rural females and are
generally not denied the opportunities of education as is the case in many rural areas.
4. A part of educate rural population migrates to urban area for better opportunities.
Location and Size
Ajmer Division is one of the administrative geographical units, called a division, of Rajasthan
state. The division comprises of four districts: Ajmer, Bhilwara, Nagaur and Tonk and 38
tehsils. It is situated in the Middle Eastern part of Rajasthan and lies between 260 25’N 27050’N latitudes and 73010’E -76016’E longitudes (Fig 1). It is bounded by Bikaner, Churu,
Jaipur and Sikar districts in the north & Bundi, Dausa and Sawai Madhopur in east &Chhitorgarh and Rajsamand district and Madhya Pradesh state in south & Pali and Jodhpur inwest. The total area of Ajmer division is 43,848 Km2 which is 12.81% of total area of Rajasthan(3, 42,239 Km2).
Research Methodology
Besides various measures of cartographic representation like bar diagram and choropleth
method, we have employed various statistical methods to measure the relationship between
various types of literacy and different socio-economic variables. In this regard, the present
thesis is of socio-ecological in kind. In order to measure the degree of relationship between
various type of literacy and different socio-ecological analysis at the tehsil level:
Level of Urban Literacy
In 2011, one out of five persons was illiterate in the urban area of Ajmer division of Rajasthan.
Economic development and literacy of a region are closely linked. A strong positive correlation
has often been observed between the diffusion of literacy and economic progress. The degreeof urbanization affects the rate of literacy. Those areas which are more urbanized are also
generally characterized by higher rates of literacy in comparison to those which still are at low
level of urbanization.

33

There also exists a positive correlation between literacy rates and standard of living. Higher
the standard of living, higher will be literacy and vice-versa.
The development of means of transportation and communication has opened newvistas in the field of literacy. Because it has increased the degree of spatial interaction and theeducational institutions in the urban areas now have become accessible to the students living
in countryside also. Literacy to large extent is dependent upon the number of educational
institutions. The larger the number of schools and other sources of getting education, thehigher are the literacy rates. The type of economy is also one of the most powerful parameterin the field of literacy. In a predominantly agricultural economy, the literacy is generally low, incontrast to those areas where the industries constitute the main activity and the workers are
employed in service sector.
34

Category
>86
81-86
76-81
71-76
<71
Total

Table 1: Urban Literacy Rate in Ajmer Division – 2011
No. of Tehsils
Percent
2
6.90
5
17.24
8
27.59
10
34.48
4
13.79
29
100.00Source: Census of India 2011, Final Population Total, Brief Analysis of Primary Census Abstract

On the basis of urban literacy rates as shown in table, the tehsils of Ajmer division can
be classified into five categories as:
Regions Having Very High Level of Urban Literacy (More than 86%)
Nasirabad tehsil of Ajmer district and Deoli tehsil of Tonk district have the highest level ofurban literacy more than 86 percent. The urban literacy rate is very high in Nasirabad tehsil
because it was primarily a centre of military and its associated activities. Deoli tehsil has
experienced very high literacy rate because of industrially development, economically soundand having specialized educational institutions. The very high urban literacy rate among thesetehsils is also due to favourable impact of big towns. The development of transportation andcommunication network has not only increased the degree of spatial interaction but also
helped in the breaking up of rural isolation. It covers central region of Ajmer district andsouthern region of Tonk district (Fig. 2).
Regions Having High Level of Urban Literacy (81-86%)
Reasons for high level of literacy rate are the availability of more educational facilities, highdegree of urbanization and good economic conditions. Ajmer, Beawar tehsils of Ajmer district;
Bhilwara, Hurda tehsils of Bhilwara district; and Niwai tehsil of Tonk district have experienced
high level of literacy which is more than 81 percent and confirm with that of availability ofeducational facilities. High level of urban literacy is concentrated on north-eastern region of
Tonk district, north and southern region of Bhilwara district and north-eastern region of Ajmer
district (Fig. 2).
Regions Having Moderate Level of Urban Literacy (76-81%)
The moderate level of urban literacy rate was found in Nawa tehsil of Nagaur district; Malpura
tehsil of Tonk district; Kishangarh, Kekri, Masuda tehsils of Ajmer district; Shahpura, Sahara
and Beejoliya tehsils of Bhilwara district. Moderate level of urban literacy is concentrated oneastern region of Nagaur district, north-western region of Tonk district, northern and southern
region of Ajmer district and northern and southern region of Bhilwara district (Fig. 2).

35

Regions Having Low Level of Urban Literacy (71-76%)
Ladnu, Didwana, Merta, Degana, Parbatsar tehsils of Nagaur district; Todaraisingh, Uniara
tehsils of Tonk district; Asind, Jahazpur and Mandalgarh tehsils of Bhilwara district have a low
level of urban literacy rate. Low level of urban literacy is concentrated on northern andsouthern region of Nagaur district, central and south-eastern region of Tonk district, northeastern and southern region of Bhilwara district (Fig. 2).
Regions Having Very Low Level of Urban Literacy (Less than 71%)
Nagaur, Makrana tehsils of Nagaur district; Sarwar tehsil of Ajmer district and Tonk tehsil of
Tonk district have very low level of urban literacy rate. Very low level of urban literacy is mainly
concentrated on central and northern region of Nagaur district, south-eastern region of Ajmer
district and central region of Tonk district (Fig. 2).

36

Levels of Urban Male Literacy
There has been a considerable increase in the percentage of urban male literacy in Ajmer
division. This increase is more in the decade of 1991- 2001. Ajmer district has the highest
urban male literacy rate in the division from last two decades whereas Nagaur district has thelowest urban male literacy rate in 2011. Bhilwara district recorded highest growth rate of 2.9%
in urban male literacy rate from 2001-2011. Nagaur district recorded the lowest growth rate of
0.2% in urban male literacy rate from 2001-2011.
Figure 3. Urban Male Literacy in Districts of Ajmer Division: 2001-2011
92
90
88
86
84
82
80
78
76
74
Ajmer

Nagaur

2001

2011

Tonk

Bhilwara

Levels of Urban Female Literacy
Female literacy is one of the crucial indicators of development process in any region. The
female literacy helps the area to build up a resourceful economy and healthy socio-economic
environment. Ajmer district has the highest urban female literacy rate in the division from lasttwo decades whereas Nagaur district has the lowest urban female literacy rate from last two
decades. Bhilwara district recorded highest growth rate of 9.81% in urban female literacy ratefrom 2001-2011. Ajmer district recorded the lowest growth rate 4.34% in urban female literacy
rate.
Table 3: Urban Female Literacy in Ajmer Division
Sr. No.
District
Female Literacy
2001
2011
1
Ajmer
72.15
76.49
2
Nagaur
53.41
58.84
3
Bhilwara
61.98
71.79
4
Tonk
56.03
64.76
Source: Census of India 2011, 2001, Final Population Total, Brief Analysis of Primary Census Abstract.

LEVEL OF RURAL LITERACY
The rural literacy levels represent a wide difference between the lowest and highest literacy
rates. In Ajmer division, the rural literacy rate are found in most tehsils are between 55 to 60
percent. In Ajmer division, rural literacy is found very less as compared to the urban literacy. In
2011, rural literacy rate was just 58.79, whereas the urban literacy rate is 78.65 percent. On

37the basis of rural literacy rates as shown in table, the tehsils of Ajmer division can be classified
into five categories as:
Table 4: Rural Literacy Rate in Ajmer Division – 2011
Category
No. of Tehsils
Percent
More Than 65
3
7.89
61-65
5
13.16
57-61
18
47.37
53-57
9
23.68
Less Than 53
3
7.89
Total
38
100.00Source: Census of India 2011, Final Population Total, Brief Analysis of Primary Census Abstract

Regions Having Very High Level of Rural Literacy
Nawa and Didwana tehsils of Nagaur district and Beawar tehsil of Ajmer district have recorded
very high level of rural literacy rate. It is mainly concentrated in region of Nagaur district; andsouth-western region of Ajmer district (Fig. 5).
Regions Having High Level of Rural Literacy
High level of rural literacy is found in Peesangan and Ajmer tehsils of Ajmer district; Makrana
and Ladnu tehsils of Nagaur district; Hurda tehsil of Bhilwara district. It is mainly concentrated
in north-western region of Ajmer district; northern and central region of Nagaur district; andnorthern region of Bhilwara district (Fig. 5).
Regions Having Moderate Level of Rural Literacy
Kheenvsar, Degana, Nagaur, Jayal and Merta tehsils of Nagaur district; Banera, Sahara,
Jahazpur and Bhilwara tehsils of Bhilwara district; Malpura, Peeplu, Uniara, Todaraisingh,
Deoli, Tonk and Niwai tehsils of Tonk district; Masuda and Nasirabad tehsils of Ajmer district
have moderate level of rural literacy rate. It is mainly concentrated in northern, western andsouthern region of Nagaur district; central, north-eastern and southern region of Bhilwara
district; north-western, central and southern region of Tonk district; and north-eastern andsouthern region of Ajmer district (Fig. 5).
Regions Having Low Level of Rural Literacy
Mandalgarh, Raipur, Mandal, Beejoliya and Asind tehsils of Bhilwara district; Parbatsar tehsilof Nagaur district; Kishangarh, Kekri and Bhinay tehsils of Ajmer district have low level of rural
literacy. It is mainly concentrated in western, north-western and south-eastern region of
Bhilwara district; south-eastern region of Nagaur district; and north-eastern and south-easternregion of Ajmer district (Fig. 5).
Regions Having Very Low Level of Rural Literacy
Shahpura and Kotri tehsils of Bhilwara district; and Sarwar tehsil of Ajmer district haverecorded very low level of rural literacy in the division. It is mainly concentrated in the northernand central region of Bhilwara district and south-eastern region of Ajmer district (Fig. 5).

38

Levels of Rural Male Literacy
Ajmer district has the highest rural male literacy rate in the division. Bhilwara district has thelowest rural male literacy rate from last two decades. Bhilwara district recorded highest growthrate of 9.20% in rural male literacy rate from 2001-2011. Nagaur district recorded the lowest
growth rate of 3.58% in rural male literacy rate from 2001-2011.

Sr. No.
1
2
3
4

Table 5: Rural Male literacy in Ajmer Division 2001-2011
DistrictMale Literacy
2001
Ajmer
71.90
Nagaur
72.46
Tonk
67.90
Bhilwara
62.12

2011

Source: Census of India 2001, 2011, Final Population Total, Brief Analysis of Primary Census Abstract.

39

76.45
76.04
75.46
71.32

Levels of Rural Female Literacy
Female literacy is one of the crucial indicators of development process in any region. The
female literacy helps the area to build up a resourceful economy and healthy socio-economic
environment. Nagaur district has the highest rural female literacy rate in the division from lasttwo decades whereas Tonk district has the lowest rural female literacy rate from last two
decades. Bhilwara district recorded highest growth rate of 14.38% in rural female literacy ratefrom 2001-2011. Nagaur district recorded the lowest growth rate 8.33% in rural female literacy
rate.
Table 6: Rural Female Literacy in Ajmer Division
Sr. No.
District
Female literacy
2001
2011
1
Ajmer
32.63
41.29
2
Nagaur
36.85
45.18
3
Bhilwara
26.20
40.58
4
Tonk
25.66
39.66
Source: Census of India 2011, 2001, Final Population Total, Brief Analysis of Primary Census Abstract.

SOCIAL ECOLOGY OF RURAL LITERACY
The result drawn from the regression analysis between rural literacy and socio-economic
variables has shown that density of population (0.0166), percent urban population (0.1061),
percent workers engaged in non-agricultural activities (0.1216) are positively associated. The
major explanatory variables in the case of rural literacy are: percent total workers and densityof population which has explained 53.31 and 27.76 per cent respectively in rural literacy. In
addition to these percent workers engaged in non-agricultural activities, per cent urban
population and sex ratio have explained 25.42, 23.79, 9.17 per cent variation respectively inrural literacy. The inversely related variables are sex ratio (-0.0453), percent scheduled caste
population (-0.1118), percent scheduled tribe population (-0.1295) and percent total workers (0.6291).
Table 7: Regression Co-efficient and Co-efficient of Determination between Rural Literacy
Rate and socio-economic variables, 2011
Sr. No. Variables
Regression
Co-efficient of
Co-efficient
determination (R2)1
Density of Population
0.016627.76%
2
Percent urban Population
0.106123.80%
3
Sex Ratio-0.0453
9.17%
4
Percent Schedule Caste-0.1118
0.68%
Population
5
Percent Schedule Tribe-0.1295
6.78%
Population
6
Percent total workers-0.629153.31%
7
Percent workers engaged in
0.121625.42%
non-agricultural activities

40

SOCIAL ECOLOGY OF URBAN LITERACY
The result drawn from the regression analysis between urban literacy and socio-economic
variables has shown that density of population (0.0903), percent urban population (1.0375),
percent schedule tribe population (0.6658) and percent workers engaged in non-agriculturalactivities (0.8657) are positively associated. The major explanatory variables in the case ofurban literacy are: percent urban population and percent workers engaged in non-agriculturalactivities which have explained 32.83 and 18.59 per cent respectively in urban literacy. In
addition to these percent total workers, density of population and sex ratio have explained
16.37, 11.78 and 7.90 percent variation respectively in urban literacy. This regression analysis
shows that sex ratio (-0.3497), percent scheduled caste population (-1.1617) and percent total
workers (-2.930) are negatively associated variables.
Table 8: Regression Co-efficient and Co-efficient of Determination between Urban Literacy
Rate and socio-economic variables, 2011
Sr. No. Variables
Regression
Co-efficient of
Co-efficient
determination (R2)1
Density of Population
0.0903
11.78%
2
Percent urban Population
1.037532.83%
3
Sex Ratio-0.3497
7.90%
4Percent Schedule Caste Population-1.1617
1.06%
5Percent Schedule Tribe Population
0.66582.58%
6Percent total workers-2.9030
16.37%
7
Percent workers engaged in non0.8657
18.59%
agricultural activities
Conclusion
In Ajmer division, the case of rural-urban literacy also the gap is alarming. However thedifference in level of literacy goes on decreasing. The narrowing down of difference between
the levels of urban and rural literacy is due to enhancement of rural urban interaction, increasesocio-economic functional value of education in the countryside, improve standard of living,increase facility of schooling, waning social taboos and prejudices against female education
particularly in rural areas. The urban literacy rate of Ajmer division in 2011 is 78.65 percent,whereas the rural literacy is 58.79 percent. This gap is considered to be the result of better
facilities available in urban area. Out of total 29 urban tehsils, 25 tehsils recorded more than70 percent urban literacy rate, however no tehsil recorded more than 70 percent rural literacy
rate. There is no tehsil recorded less than 60 percent urban literacy rate, however 29 tehsils
out of 38 tehsils recorded less than 60 percent rural literacy rate. This reflects a criticaldifferentiation between urban and rural literacy. Within the tehsils, there is a huge disparity. On
one hand, Nasirabad has recorded 88.39 percent urban literacy and on other hand, Sarwar
has recorded 64.56 percent urban literacy.
The regression analysis of rural-urban literacy with selected seven socio-economic
variables shows that out of the total seven, rural literacy is positively associated with threevariables and urban literacy are positively related with four variables. The analysis shows that
positively related variables are density of population (0.0166 for rural literacy and 0.0903 forurban literacy), percent urban population (0.1061 for rural literacy and 01.0375 for urban
41

literacy) and percent workers engaged in non-agricultural activities (0.1216 for rural literacy
and 0.8657 for urban literacy). Percent scheduled tribe population is positively associated withurban literacy (0.6658) whereas negatively associated with rural literacy (-0.1295). Density of
population has emerged as the most important variable in explaining variance 27.76 percent torural literacy and percent urban population has emerged as the most important variable inexplaining variance 32.83 percent to urban literacy. Similarly the variables percent urban
population has explained 23.80 percent variations in rural literacy. Percent workers engaged in
non agricultural activities has explained 25.42 percent and 18.59 percent variance in rural
literacy and urban literacy respectively. The negatively associated variables are sex ratio (0.0453 for rural literacy and -0.3497 for urban literacy), percent scheduled caste population (0.1118 for rural literacy and -1.1617 for urban literacy), and percent total workers (-0.6291 forrural literacy and -2.9030 for urban literacy).
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