Lok Sabha Question No. 204 (STARRED), answered on 2017-07-31
Subject: Literacy Rate
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: SAKSHI SWAMI MAHARAJ, DHARMENDRA YADAV

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

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO.204 TO BE ANSWERED ON 31.07.2017

## Literacy Rate

## †*204.DR. SWAMI SAKSHIJI MAHARAJ:

SHRI DHARMENDRA YADAV: Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state: (a) the details of literacy rate in the country, gender-wise and State/UT-wise including Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra at present along with the funds sanctioned/ spent and achievements made under the National Literacy Mission during the last three years and the current year; (b) whether the Government proposes to provide special assistance to the States which have literacy rate below the national average and if so, the details thereof; (c) whether it is a fact that some smaller countries with limited resources have higher literacy rate as compared to India and if so, the details thereof along with the reasons therefor; (d)  whether several States  have  demanded autonomy so as to facilitate to achieve learning outcomes  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  action  taken  by  the  Government thereon; and (e)  the  steps  taken/proposed  to  be  taken  by  the  Government  for  improving  the  standard  of

- literacy in the States including Uttar Pradesh?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)

(a) to (e): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

****

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) to (e) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 204 FOR 31.07.2017 ASKED BY DR. SWAMI SAKSHIJI MAHARAJ  AND  SHRI  DHARMENDRA  YADAV  REGARDING  'LITERACY RATE'.

(a)  &  (b)  The  literacy  data  in  the  country  is  collected  through  decennial  census  operation conducted  by  Registrar  General  of  India.  The  last  Census  was  held  in  2011.  A  statement indicating  details  of  literacy  rate  in  the  country,  gender-wise  and  State/UT-wise  including Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra as per Census 2011 is at Annexure-I . A statement indicating details of State/UT-wise funds sanctioned during the last three years and the current year is at Annexure-II .  A  statement  indicating  the  State/UT-wise  number  of  learners  appeared  and declared successful in biannual basic literacy assessment tests (August and March) during the last three years is at Annexure-III.

Financial assistance is being provided to States/UT by Central and respective State Government for implementation of the programme in 410 districts in 26 States and one UT that had adult female literacy rate of 50% and below as per Census 2001 were identified for coverage under Saakshar  Bharat  programme.  The  Saakshar  Bharat  Programme  also  included  Left  Wing Extremism affected districts, irrespective of their literacy rates. The Saakshar Bharat programme covers the rural areas of identified districts. Since 2015-16 onwards, the sharing of funds between centre and state is 60:40 ratio in all States except North Eastern States and three Himalayan States where the Central and State is 90:10 ratio.

In  order  to  focus  on  the  areas  where  the  literacy  levels  are  low,  the  Department  of School Education & Literacy (SE&L) has identified Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBs). Initially 3073 EBBs were identified on the basis of the twin criteria of rural Female Literacy Rate  being  below  the  national  average  of  46.13  per  cent  and  Gender  Gap  in  Literacy  being above the national average of 21.59 per cent as per Census 2001.  Both these criteria had been earmarked by the Registrar General of India (RGI).

A further 406 more blocks were included, out of which 404 blocks had rural Female Literacy Rate of less than 45 per cent as per Census 2001, irrespective of the Gender Gap.  In addition one Block from West Bengal with SC Rural Female Literacy Rate of 19.81 per cent and  one  block  in  Odisha  with  ST  rural  Female  Literacy  Rate  of  9.47  per  cent  were  also included, taking the total number of EBBs to 3479.

(c) No, Madam. The adult literacy rate of India was 69 per cent as reported by UNESCO in 'Global  Education  Monitoring  Report  2016'  as  compared  to  the  adult  literacy  rate  of neighboring countries such as Afghanistan (32 per cent), Pakistan (56 per cent), Bhutan (57 per cent), Nepal (60 per cent) and Bangladesh (61 per cent).

(d) There have been no demands from States for autonomy so as to facilitate achieving learning outcomes. However, this Department, in collaboration with NCERT, has finalized the learning Outcomes for all subjects at elementary level, which will be the expected levels of learning that students  should  achieve  on  completion  of  a  particular  class.  These  Learning  Outcomes  have also been incorporated in the Central Rules to the RTE Act 2009 by amending Section 23(2) of the Rules.

State  and  UT  Governments  have  also  been  requested  to  translate  these  learning outcomes in their local languages and incorporate them in State RTE Rules at the earliest.

Under  Saakshar  Bharat  programme,  around  7.92  crore  learners  have  been  appeared under Basic Literacy Assessment Tests conducted between August, 2010 to August, 2016, out of which around 5.88 crore learners have successfully passed the assessment tests conducted under the programme and certified as literate.

(e)  In  order  to  improve  literacy  in  the  States  including  Uttar  Pradesh,  an  assessment  and certification  of  the  competency  levels  of  adults  has  been  introduced  under  Saakshar  Bharat programme.  Only  an  adult,  who  confirms  to  the  prescribed  competency  levels  in  reading, writing  and  numeracy,  is  certified  as  literate.  Assessments  are  conducted  through  a  system developed  by  National  Literacy  Mission  Authority  in  consultation  with  National  Institute  of Open Schooling, an autonomous organization of the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

## Annexure-I

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 204 FOR 31.07.2017 ASKED BY DR. SWAMI SAKSHIJI MAHARAJ  AND  SHRI  DHARMENDRA  YADAV  REGARDING  'LITERACY RATE'.

## Literacy rate in the country, as per the Census 2011

| S. No.   | Name of States / UTs   | Literacy Rate   | Literacy Rate   | Literacy Rate   |
|----------|------------------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
| S. No.   | Name of States / UTs   | Persons         | Male            | Female          |
| S. No.   | India                  | 72.98           | 80.88           | 64.63           |
| 1.       | Andhra Pradesh         | 67.02           | 74.88           | 59.15           |
| 2.       | Arunachal Pradesh      | 65.38           | 72.55           | 57.70           |
| 3.       | Assam                  | 72.19           | 77.85           | 66.27           |
| 4.       | Bihar                  | 61.80           | 71.20           | 51.50           |
| 5.       | Chhattisgarh           | 70.28           | 80.27           | 60.24           |
| 6.       | Goa                    | 88.70           | 92.65           | 84.66           |
| 7.       | Gujarat                | 78.03           | 85.75           | 69.68           |
| 8.       | Haryana                | 75.55           | 84.06           | 65.94           |
| 9.       | Himachal Pradesh       | 82.80           | 89.53           | 75.93           |
| 10.      | Jammu &Kashmir         | 67.16           | 76.75           | 56.43           |
| 11.      | Jharkhand              | 66.41           | 76.84           | 55.42           |
| 12.      | Karnataka              | 75.36           | 82.47           | 68.08           |
| 13.      | Kerala                 | 94.00           | 96.11           | 92.07           |
| 14.      | Madhya Pradesh         | 69.32           | 78.73           | 59.24           |
| 15.      | Maharashtra            | 82.34           | 88.38           | 75.87           |
| 16.      | Manipur                | 76.94           | 83.58           | 70.26           |
| 17.      | Meghalaya              | 74.43           | 75.95           | 72.89           |
| 18.      | Mizoram                | 91.33           | 93.35           | 89.27           |
| 19.      | Nagaland               | 79.55           | 82.75           | 76.11           |
| 20.      | Odisha                 | 72.87           | 81.59           | 64.01           |
| 21.      | Punjab                 | 75.84           | 80.44           | 70.73           |
| 22.      | Rajasthan              | 66.11           | 79.19           | 52.12           |
| 23.      | Sikkim                 | 81.42           | 86.55           | 75.61           |
| 24.      | Tamil Nadu             | 80.09           | 86.77           | 73.44           |
| 25.      | Tripura                | 87.22           | 91.53           | 82.73           |
| 26.      | Uttar Pradesh          | 67.68           | 77.28           | 57.18           |
| 27.      | Uttarakhand            | 78.82           | 87.40           | 70.01           |
| 28.      | West Bengal            | 76.26           | 81.69           | 70.54           |
| 29.      | A &NIslands            | 86.63           | 90.27           | 82.43           |
| 30.      | Chandigarh             | 86.05           | 89.99           | 81.19           |
| 31.      | D &NHaveli             | 76.24           | 85.17           | 64.32           |
| 32.      | Daman &Diu             | 87.10           | 91.54           | 79.55           |
| 33.      | Lakshadweep            | 91.85           | 95.56           | 87.95           |
| 34.      | NCT of Delhi           | 86.21           | 90.94           | 80.76           |
| 35.      | Puducherry             | 85.85           | 91.26           | 80.67           |

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 204 FOR 31.07.2017 ASKED BY DR. SWAMI SAKSHIJI MAHARAJ  AND  SHRI  DHARMENDRA  YADAV  REGARDING  'LITERACY RATE'.

The details of year-wise central share released under Saakshar Bharat programme

(Rs. in lakh)

| Sl. No.   |                   | Central Share released   | Central Share released   | Central Share released   | Central Share released   |
|-----------|-------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|
| Sl. No.   | Name of State/UT  | 2014-15                  | 2015-16                  | 2016-17                  | 2017-18 as on 25.7.17    |
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh    | 3432                     | 4456.45                  | 0                        |                          |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh | 1224.73                  | 383.4                    | 31.45                    | 0                        |
| 3         | Assam             | 913.5                    | 1319.76                  | 0                        | 0                        |
| 4         | Bihar             | 4788                     | 3900                     | 2340                     | 0                        |
| 5         | Chhasttisgarh     | 2250                     | 1500                     | 1400.1                   | 0                        |
| 6         | D&N Haveli        | 0                        | 0                        | 29.12                    | 0                        |
| 7         | Gujarat           | 0                        | 1560                     | 0                        | 0                        |
| 8         | Haryana           | 2546.35                  | 0                        | 1002.35                  | 0                        |
| 9         | Himachal Pradesh  | 156                      | 114.26                   | 0                        | 0                        |
| 10        | Jammu &Kashmir    | 0                        | 725.4                    | 585                      | 0                        |
| 11        | Jharkhand         | 0                        | 1837.5                   | 630.24                   | 0                        |
| 12        | Karnataka         | 750                      | 780                      | 1934.4                   | 0                        |
| 13        | Madhya Pradesh    | 2496                     | 2620.8                   | 4142.75                  | 225.25                   |
| 14        | Maharashtra       | 3375                     | 0                        | 0                        | 0                        |
| 15        | Manipur           | 122.76                   | 135                      | 0                        | 0                        |
| 16        | Meghalaya         | 0                        | 226.8                    | 0                        | 0                        |
| 17        | Nagaland          | 256.47                   | 151.93                   | 0                        | 0                        |
| 18        | Odisha            | 0                        | 624                      | 153.24                   | 314.76                   |
| 19        | Punjab            | 0                        | 0                        | 0                        | 0                        |
| 20        | Rajasthan         | 3215.54                  | 0                        | 152.99                   | 0                        |
| 21        | Sikkim            | 0                        | 74.88                    | 0                        | 0                        |
| 22        | Tamil Nadu        | 0                        | 1209                     | 878.66                   | 0                        |
| 23        | Telangana         | 3432                     | 1725                     | 1560                     | 0                        |
| 24        | Tripura           | 0                        | 72.54                    | 0                        | 0                        |
| 25        | Uttar Pradesh     | 3978                     | 7800                     | 5100                     | 0                        |
| 26        | Uttarakhand       | 781.88                   | 1216.8                   | 0                        | 0                        |
| 27        | West Bengal       | 916.5                    | 780                      | 748.8                    | 0                        |
|           | Total             | 34634.73                 | 33213.52                 | 20689.1                  | 540.01                   |

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 204 FOR 31.07.2017 ASKED BY DR. SWAMI SAKSHIJI MAHARAJ  AND  SHRI  DHARMENDRA  YADAV  REGARDING  'LITERACY RATE'.

The year-wise details of learners appeared and declared successful in biannual basic literacy assessment tests (August and March)

| Sl. No.   | State/UT            | 2014-15     | 2014-15    | 2015-16     | 2015-16     | 2016-17 upto August 2016   | 2016-17 upto August 2016   |
|-----------|---------------------|-------------|------------|-------------|-------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|
| Sl. No.   | State/UT            | Appeared    | Successful | Appeared    | Successful  | Appeared                   | Successful                 |
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh      | 8,20,386    | 5,50,137   | 8,90,490    | 6,18,261    | 65,470                     | 58,048                     |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh   | 29,471      | 28,177     | 34,419      | 30,063      | 12,237                     | 10,655                     |
| 3         | Assam               | 1,47,006    | 94,474     | 4,94,579    | 3,52,851    | 52,651                     | 38,028                     |
| 4         | Bihar               | 13,06,160   | 11,34,020  | 30,61,214   | 25,91,085   | 12,19,745                  | 10,61,570                  |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh        | 4,65,553    | 3,90,711   | 3,28,769    | 2,68,467    | 1,40,712                   | 1,33,284                   |
| 6         | Dadra& Nagar Haveli | -           | -          | -           | -           | -                          | -                          |
| 7         | Gujarat             | 64,443      | 46,178     | 2,25,524    | 1,58,384    | 2,49,977                   | 1,86,604                   |
| 8         | Haryana             | 1,74,461    | 1,07,396   | 2,13,220    | 1,46,484    | 2,55,081                   | 1,82,935                   |
| 9         | Himachal Pradesh    | 1,428       | 760        | 17,015      | 10,198      | 13,824                     | 10,112                     |
| 10        | Jammu& Kashmir      | 64,856      | 44,656     | 82,133      | 49,786      | -                          | -                          |
| 11        | Jharkhand           | 58,481      | 49,354     | 17,58,251   | 13,65,133   | 4,30,397                   | 3,29,722                   |
| 12        | Karnataka           | 7,67,652    | 6,08,189   | 6,95,134    | 5,70,461    | 2,95,718                   | 2,65,613                   |
| 13        | Madhya Pradesh      | 5,96,255    | 3,85,297   | 7,98,237    | 5,77,429    | 9,89,644                   | 8,48,811                   |
| 14        | Maharashtra         | 30,168      | 22,748     | 3,23,894    | 2,15,140    | 1,61,289                   | 1,19,548                   |
| 15        | Manipur             | 10,091      | 7,310      | 9,500       | 4,780       | 7,655                      | 6,510                      |
| 16        | Meghalaya           | 13,127      | 9,494      | 11,363      | 7,106       | -                          | -                          |
| 17        | Nagaland            | 30,893      | 19,742     | 31,192      | 22,650      | 11,895                     | 9,125                      |
| 18        | Odisha              | 1,24,837    | 67,659     | 8,58,581    | 3,81,179    | 6,05,540                   | 2,94,471                   |
| 19        | Punjab              | -           | -          | -           | -           | -                          | -                          |
| 20        | Rajasthan           | 13,07,845   | 10,79,400  | 19,56,620   | 16,66,568   | 8,64,255                   | 7,36,132                   |
| 21        | Sikkim              | 1,836       | 1,334      | 1,677       | 1,278       | -                          | -                          |
| 22        | Tamil Nadu          | 3,99,755    | 3,43,062   | 1,48,633    | 1,30,746    | 62,540                     | 57,941                     |
| 23        | Telangana           | 9,24,195    | 6,32,822   | 11,72,346   | 8,41,381    | 3,17,333                   | 2,29,331                   |
| 24        | Tripura             | 2,517       | 1,614      | -           | -           | -                          | -                          |
| 25        | Uttar Pradesh       | 22,92,253   | 17,47,839  | 45,82,749   | 34,18,462   | 26,31,179                  | 20,84,021                  |
| 26        | Uttarakhand         | 71,538      | 46,299     | 1,04,633    | 68,921      | 44,485                     | 29,860                     |
| 27        | West Bengal         | 9,81,305    | 5,28,343   | 20,99,202   | 13,12,249   | 10,26,511                  | 7,76,177                   |
|           | Total               | 1,06,86,512 | 79,47,015  | 1,98,99,375 | 1,48,09,062 | 94,58,138                  | 74,68,498                  |