Lok Sabha Question No. 37 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-02-03
Subject: Female Literacy Rate in Maharashtra
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Sadashiv Kisan Lokhande, Bharti Pravin Pawar

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 37 TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.02.2020

## Female Literacy Rate in Maharashtra

## †37. SHRI SADASHIV KISAN LOKHANDE:

DR. BHARATI PRAVIN PAWAR:

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

(a)  the  current  female  literacy  rate  in  Maharashtra  and  the  position  of  Maharashtra  in  the country in terms of female literacy rate;

- (b) the reason for the low female literacy rate in Maharashtra;
- (c) the steps taken by the Union Government to increase female literacy rate in Maharashtra; and
- (d) the extent to which female literacy rate in Maharashtra has been raised by the steps taken?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SHRI RAMESH POKHRIYAL 'NISHANK')

(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 State/UT and rank-wise female literacy rate in the country including Maharashtra, in the age group of 7 and above, as per Census 2011 is at Annexure. The female literacy rate in Maharashtra is 75.87 per cent compared to the national average of female literacy rate of 64.63 per cent and stands at 13 th place  in  the  country.  Various  factors  viz. poverty,  gender and social inequities, etc. are impeding female literacy in the country.

(c) In order to improve the female 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, including 10 districts in Maharashtra, 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.

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.

Under Samagra Shiksha, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBV) are residential schools  from  class  VI  to  XII  for  girls  belonging  to  disadvantaged  groups  such  as  SC,  ST, OBC, Minority and Below Poverty Line (BPL) to ensure access and quality education to girls from disadvantaged groups by setting up residential schools and to reduce gender gaps at all levels of school education.

Various  interventions  have  also  been  targeted  for  girls  under  Samagra  Shiksha including opening of schools in the neighbourhood, provision of free text-books to girls up to Class VIII, uniforms to all girls up to class VIII, provision of gender segregated toilets in all schools,  teachers'  sensitization  programmes  to  promote  girls'  participation,    provision  for Self-Defence  training  for  the  girls  from  classes  VI  to  XII  and    stipend  to  Children  With Special Needs (CWSN) girls from class I to Class XII.

(d) Census 2011 recorded female literacy rate of Maharashtra as 75.87 per cent compared to 67.03 per cent in 2001 and 52.3 per cent in 1991. Under the Saakshar Bharat programme in Maharashtra, 10.5 lakh adult learners appeared in the Biannual Basic Literacy Assessment Test  conducted by  National  Institute  of  Open  Schooling  between  August,  2010  to  March, 2018 (including 6.2 lakh women) and 7.44 lakh learners (including 4.46 lakh women) were declared successful.

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  37  FOR  03.02.2020  ASKED  BY  SHRI  SADASHIV KISAN  LOKHANDE  AND DR. BHARATI PRAVIN  PAWAR  REGARDING 'FEMALE LITERACY RATE IN MAHARASHTRA'.

Rank-wise Female Literacy rate in the country, in the age group of 7 and above, as per the Census 2011

| Sl. No.   | Name of States / UTs       |   Female Literacy Rate |
|-----------|----------------------------|------------------------|
| Sl. No.   | India                      |                  64.63 |
| 1         | Kerala                     |                  92.07 |
| 2         | Mizoram                    |                  89.27 |
| 3         | Lakshadweep                |                  87.95 |
| 4         | Goa                        |                  84.66 |
| 5         | Tripura                    |                  82.73 |
| 6         | A &NIslands                |                  82.43 |
| 7         | Chandigarh                 |                  81.19 |
| 8         | NCT of Delhi               |                  80.76 |
| 9         | Puducherry                 |                  80.67 |
| 10        | Daman &Diu                 |                  79.55 |
| 11        | Nagaland                   |                  76.11 |
| 12        | Himachal Pradesh           |                  75.93 |
| 13        | Maharashtra                |                  75.87 |
| 14        | Sikkim                     |                  75.61 |
| 15        | Tamil Nadu                 |                  73.44 |
| 16        | Meghalaya                  |                  72.89 |
| 17        | Punjab                     |                  70.73 |
| 18        | West Bengal                |                  70.54 |
| 19        | Manipur                    |                  70.26 |
| 20        | Uttarakhand                |                  70.01 |
| 21        | Gujarat                    |                  69.68 |
| 22        | Karnataka                  |                  68.08 |
| 23        | Assam                      |                  66.27 |
| 24        | Haryana                    |                  65.94 |
| 25        | D &NHaveli                 |                  64.32 |
| 26        | Odisha                     |                  64.01 |
| 27        | Chhattisgarh               |                  60.24 |
| 28        | Madhya Pradesh             |                  59.24 |
| 29        | Andhra Pradesh (Undivided) |                  59.15 |
| 30        | Arunachal Pradesh          |                  57.7  |
| 31        | Uttar Pradesh              |                  57.18 |
| 32        | Jammu &Kashmir             |                  56.43 |
| 33        | Jharkhand                  |                  55.42 |
| 34        | Rajasthan                  |                  52.12 |
| 35        | Bihar                      |                  51.5  |

***