Lok Sabha Question No. 2222 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-24
Subject: Literacy
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: NEELAM SONKER, RAVINDRA KUMAR RAY, SHER SINGH GHUBAYA

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2222 TO BE ANSWERED ON 24.12.2018

## Literacy

†2222. SHRIMATI NEELAM SONKER: DR. RAVINDRA KUMAR RAY: SHRI SHER SINGH GHUBAYA:

- Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state: (a)  the  details  regarding  literacy  rate  in  the  country,  State  and  gender-wise  including  Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Punjab ; (b) whether the Government is considering to introduce a policy to ensure full literacy in the country and if so, the features of the said policy; (c)  whether  the  Government  has  formulated  a  policy  to  provide  special  assistance  to  those States in which the literacy rate is less than the national average and if so, the details thereof; and (d) the time by which the target of total literacy is likely to be achieved under the said Policy ?

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

- (a) 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 Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Punjab, as per Census 2011 is annexed. (b)  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.

Provisioning  of  schooling  facilities  for  all  children  on  institutional  basis  is  the fundamental  requirement  of  achieving  universal  enrolment.  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.

(c) No Madam.

(d) 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.

## Annexure

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  2222  FOR  24.12.2018  ASKED  BY  SHRIMATI NEELAM  SONKER,  DR.  RAVINDRA  KUMAR  RAY  AND  SHRI  SHER  SINGH GHUBAYA REGARDING 'LITERACY'.

State and gender-wise literacy rate in the country, 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           |