Lok Sabha Question No. 4253 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-01-07
Subject: Literacy Rate
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: ANANDRAO  ADSUL, KUNWAR PUSHPENDRA SINGH CHANDEL, SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE, DHARMENDRA YADAV, VINAYAK BHAURAO RAUT, PRITAM GOPINATH MUNDE

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

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4253 TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.01.2019

## Literacy Rate

## 4253. SHRI ANANDRAO ADSUL:

DR. PRITAM GOPINATH MUNDE:

DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE:

SHRI VINAYAK BHAURAO RAUT:

SHRI KUNWAR PUSHPENDRA SINGH CHANDEL:

SHRI DHARMENDRA YADAV:

Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  it  is  a  fact  that  Indonesia  and  Thailand,  much  smaller  economies  with  lesser resources, have literacy rates of 84 per cent and 94 per cent higher than India and if so, the reasons therefor;
- (b) whether the country was set to achieve 80 per cent literacy rate by 2015;
- (c) if so, the percentage of literacy rate achieved till December, 2018, State-wise, particularly in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh (including Bundelkhand);
- (d) whether there are many casual reasons for the flailing state of education in the country;
- (e) if so, the details thereof and the response of the Government thereon; and
- (f) the action taken/being taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (Dr. SATYA PAL SINGH)

- (a)  UNESCO's  Global  Education  Monitoring  (GEM)  Report  2019  has  stated  that  adult literacy rate is 95 per cent and 93 per cent in Indonesia and Thailand respectively. The adult literacy rate in India is not indicated in the report. Census 2011 has reported the adult literacy rate in the country as 69.28 per cent.
- (b) & (c) Plan-wise targets are fixed to achieve higher levels of literacy in a phased manner. The target was set to raise the overall literacy rate of the country to 80 per cent and reduce the gender  gap  to  10  percentage  points  by  the  end  of  XII  Five  Year  Plan  Period  (2017).  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,  State  and  gender-wise  including  Maharashtra  and  Uttar Pradesh (including Bundelkhand), in the age group of 7 and above, as per Census 2011 is annexed.

(d) to (f) Various factors viz. poverty, gender and social inequities, etc. are responsible for impeding state of education in the country.

In order to ensure free and compulsory education in the age group of 6 to 14 year, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, has laid down norms and standards for opening of schools in neighbourhood.  The RTE Act provides children's access to  elementary schools within the defined area or limits of neighbourhood. Section 6 of the Act provides that 'The appropriate government and local authorities' shall establish, with in the area or limits of a neighbourhood, a school, where it is not already established, within a period  of  three  years  from  the  commencement  of  the  Act.    Further,  the  Act  places  a compulsion on the State to ensure that no child from the weaker sections or disadvantaged groups is discriminated  against in any manner or prevented from pursuing  and completing elementary education.

In  addition,  the  Department  of  School  Education  and  Literacy  has  launched  the Samagra  Shiksha  -  an  Integrated  Scheme  for  School  Education  as  a  Centrally  Sponsored Scheme with effect  from  the  year  2018-19.  This  programme  subsumes  the  three  erstwhile Centrally  Sponsored  Schemes  of  Sarva  Shiksha  Abhiyan  (SSA),  Rashtriya  Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE). Samagra Shiksha is an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class XII and aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels of school education.

In  order  to  improve the  literacy  rate  in  the  country,  the  scheme  of  Saakshar  Bharat was implemented in the rural areas of 410 districts in 26 States and one UT that had adult female literacy rate of 50 per cent and below as per Census 2001, and including left wing extremism affected districts, irrespective of their literacy rates, with special focus on women and  other  disadvantaged  groups,  since  October  2009.  The  scheme  was  extended  upto 31.03.2018.

A programme is under consideration of Govt. of India through which students will teach their parents and neighbors who may be illiterate. They will be called 'Literate India Ambassadors'. The aim is to reach full literacy by 2025.

## Annexure

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (b)  &  (c)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  425 3 FOR  07.01.2019  ASKED  BY  SHRI  ANANDRAO ADSUL, DR. PRITAM GOPINATH MUNDE, DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE, SHRI  VINAYAK  BHAURAO  RAUT,  SHRI  KUNWAR  PUSHPENDRA  SINGH CHANDEL AND SHRI DHARMENDRA  YADAV:  REGARDING 'SAAKSHAR BHARAT PROGRAMME'.

State  and  gender-wise  literacy  rate  in  the  country,  including  Maharashtra  and  Uttar Pradesh (including Bundelkhand), in the age group of 7 and above, as per 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           |