Lok Sabha Question No. 1326 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-24
Subject: Literacy in Rural Areas
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Gurjeet Singh,Aujla

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA 02110 UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1326 TO BE ANSWERED ON 24.07.2017

## Literacy in Rural Areas

1326. SHRI GURJEET SINGH AUJLA: Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of illiterate people in rural India as per the Socio-Economic and Caste Census 2011 report;
- (b) whether the number of illiterate persons in rural parts of the country are growing and if so, the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether it is true that the Right to Education Act is not being properly implemented in rural parts of the country resulting in increase in illiterates; and
- (d)  if  so,  the  steps  Government  has  taken/proposed  to  be  taken  to  improve  the  quality  of education in rural regions across the country?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SHRI UPENDRA KUSHWAHA)

- (a) A statement indicating State/UT-wise details of illiterate people in rural India, as per the Socio-Economic and Caste Census 2011 report, is annexed .
- (b) No, Madam. As per Census 2011, the number of illiterate in rural parts of the country, in the age group of 7 and above, is 22,96,32,152  as compared to 25,41,49,325 reported by Census 2001.
- (c) & (d) The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 provides a legal  entitlement  to  every  child  of  the  age  of  six  to  fourteen  years  for  free  and  compulsory elementary education in a neighbourhood school. The Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), which is the designated scheme for meeting the objective of RTE Act, 2009, provides assistance to State Governments and UT Administrations for universalization of elementary education in the country.

SSA programme provides a number of incentives to encourage enrolment and retention and to reduce the out of school or dropout children in schools.  These include enhancing access to  primary,  upper  primary  schools,  strengthening  school  infrastructure  like  school  building, additional classrooms, toilets, drinking water facilities etc., improving the teacher pupil ratio as well as strategies for gender positive textbooks, gender sensitization of teachers and educational administrators.   Since  inception  of  SSA  in  2001  till  31.3.2016,  opening  of  2.04  lakh  new primary  schools  and  1.59  lakh  new  upper  primary  schools;  and  construction  of  18.61  lakh additional classrooms have been sanctioned to States and UTs to enable the States to provide access to elementary education. In addition, 3609 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas, which are residential schools for girls at upper primary level, have also been sanctioned to the States for improving access to marginalized girls particularly out of school, either drop out or never enrolled. The Mid-day Meal programme is implemented in elementary schools, to help retain children in schools.

The RTE Act, 2009 lays down the duties of the appropriate Government and the local authority to ensure that good quality elementary education conforming to norms and standards is  provided, that curriculum and courses of study are prescribed in a timely manner, and that teachers are trained. In order to focus on quality education, the Central RTE Rules have been amended  on  20th  February,  2017  to  include  reference  on  class-wise,  subject-wise  Learning Outcomes.  The  Learning  Outcomes  for  each  class  in  Languages  (Hindi,  English  and  Urdu), Mathematics, Environmental Studies, Science and Social Science up to the elementary stage have, accordingly, been finalized and shared with all States and UTs. These would serve as a guideline for States and UTs to ensure that all children acquire appropriate learning level.

Under  the  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  of  Sarva  Shiksha  Abhiyan  (SSA),  the  State Governments  and  UT  Administrations  are  supported  on  several  interventions  to  improve teaching standards, including regular in-service teachers' training, induction training for newly recruited  teachers,  training  of  all  untrained  teachers  to  acquire  professional  qualifications through Open Distance Learning (ODL) mode, recruitment of additional teachers for improving pupil-teacher ratios, academic support for teachers through block and cluster resource centres, continuous  and  comprehensive  evaluation  system  to  equip  the  teacher  to  measure  pupil performance and provide remedial action wherever required, and teacher and school grants for development of appropriate teaching-learning materials, etc.

Additionally, the Central Government, supports States and UTs on early grade reading, writing  &  comprehension,  and  early  Mathematics  programmes  through  a  sub-programme  of

SSA namely 'Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat' (PBBB) in classes I and II. Further, the Government has launched Rashtriya Aavishkar Abhiyan (RAA) programme on 09.07.2015, inter alia, as a sub-component  of  Sarva  Shiksha  Abhiyan  and  Rashtriya  Madhyamik  Shiksha  Abhiyan (RMSA),  to  motivate  and  engage  children  of  the  age  group  from  6-18  years  in  Science, Mathematics and Technology through observation, experimentation, inference drawing, model building, etc. both through inside and outside classroom activities.

Further,  for  improving  the  quality  of  school  education,  the  School  Standards  & Evaluation  framework,  known  as  'Shaala  Siddhi'  has  been  launched  by  NUEPA,  to  enable schools to evaluate their performance in a more focused and strategic manner and to facilitate them to make professional judgments for improvement.

## Annexure

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  1326  FOR  24.07.2017  ASKED  SHRI  GURJEET SINGH AUJLA REGARDING 'LITERACY IN RURAL AREAS'.

State/UT-wise details of illiterate people in rural India as per the Socio-Economic and Caste Census 2011 report

|   S. No. | States/ UTs              | Total Population in Rural Area 88,66,92,406   | No. of Illiterates in Rural Area   |   Percentage of Illiterates in Rural Area |
|----------|--------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Andaman &Nicobar Islands | 2,76,860                                      | 54,892                             |                                     19.83 |
|        2 | Andhra Pradesh           | 3,60,65,455                                   | 1,36,68,748                        |                                     37.9  |
|        3 | Arunachal Pradesh        | 1,0,21,824                                    | 3,94,909                           |                                     38.65 |
|        4 | Assam                    | 2,84,51,916                                   | 91,21,669                          |                                     32.06 |
|        5 | Bihar                    | 9,85,52,478                                   | 4,32,88,391                        |                                     43.92 |
|        6 | Chandigarh               | 66,077                                        | 18,758                             |                                     28.39 |
|        7 | Chhattisgarh             | 1,95,83,938                                   | 77,45,604                          |                                     39.55 |
|        8 | Dadra &Nagar Haveli      | 2,14,842                                      | 77,965                             |                                     36.29 |
|        9 | Daman And Diu            | 1,27,453                                      | 22,281                             |                                     17.48 |
|       10 | Goa                      | 9,44,365                                      | 1,45,629                           |                                     15.42 |
|       11 | Gujarat                  | 3,45,38,246                                   | 1,07,12,386                        |                                     31.02 |
|       12 | Haryana                  | 1,60,35,621                                   | 54,95,400                          |                                     34.27 |
|       13 | Himachal Pradesh         | 59,40,056                                     | 13,09,180                          |                                     22.04 |
|       14 | Jammu &Kashmir           | 88,22,753                                     | 34,87,110                          |                                     39.52 |
|       15 | Jharkhand                | 2,73,97,111                                   | 1,07,64,670                        |                                     39.29 |
|       16 | Karnataka                | 3,81,83,242                                   | 1,20,41,709                        |                                     31.54 |
|       17 | Kerala                   | 2,72,32,419                                   | 3,0,99,591                         |                                     11.38 |
|       18 | Lakshadweep              | 64,010                                        | 5,953                              |                                      9.3  |
|       19 | Madhya Pradesh           | 5,16,74,829                                   | 2,28,53,273                        |                                     44.23 |
|       20 | Maharashtra              | 6,39,85,959                                   | 1,72,88,613                        |                                     27.02 |
|       21 | Manipur                  | 23,61,129                                     | 6,22,281                           |                                     26.36 |
|       22 | Meghalaya                | 25,64,624                                     | 8,56,566                           |                                     33.4  |
|       23 | Mizoram                  | 5,28,466                                      | 1,33,704                           |                                     25.3  |
|       24 | Nagaland                 | 14,59,531                                     | 4,33,922                           |                                     29.73 |
|       25 | NCT of Delhi             | 51,03,871                                     | 6,93,162                           |                                     13.58 |
|       26 | Odisha                   | 3,65,16,127                                   | 1,27,46,144                        |                                     34.91 |
|       27 | Puducherry               | 4,75,551                                      | 94,678                             |                                     19.91 |
|       28 | Punjab                   | 1,68,64,339                                   | 53,72,292                          |                                     31.86 |
|       29 | Rajasthan                | 5,44,12,419                                   | 2,58,89,689                        |                                     47.58 |
|       30 | Sikkim                   | 4,12,574                                      | 83,016                             |                                     20.12 |
|       31 | Tamil Nadu               | 3,96,44,183                                   | 1,04,61,562                        |                                     26.39 |
|       32 | Telangana                | 2,33,97,276                                   | 94,60,803                          |                                     40.44 |
|       33 | Tripura                  | 29,94,168                                     | 6,60,339                           |                                     22.05 |
|       34 | Uttar Pradesh            | 16,27,78,694                                  | 6,20,92,962                        |                                     38.15 |
|       35 | Uttarakhand              | 72,31,745                                     | 18,37,234                          |                                     25.41 |
|       36 | West Bengal              | 7,07,68,255                                   | 2,37,60,612                        |                                     33.58 |