Lok Sabha Question No. 4138 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-28
Subject: Eradication of Illiteracy
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Kalyan Banerjee

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.4138 TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.03.2022

## ERADICATION OF ILLITERACY

4138.  SHRI  KALYAN BANERJEE:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  the  Government aims to ensure  complete eradication of illiteracy in the  country by 2030 and is assisting financially through State literacy mission programme;

(b) whether it is also a fact that the percentage of adult illiterates in india is around 35 per cent of the world's total adult illiterates and if so, the details thereof, State-wise and gender-wise; and (c) the detail report of Niti Aayog which has underlined 112 aspirational districts and the reasons behind for zero budget allocation for adult education programme against Rs. 250 crore allocation during 2021-22 thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

## (SMT. ANNPURNA DEVI)

(a) In  order to  achieve universal literacy, the Department of School Education and Literacy has  launched  the  Samagra  Shiksha  in  school  education  system  as  a  Centrally  Sponsored Scheme with effect from Financial Year 2018-19.  It  envisages  the  'school'  as  a  continuum from pre-school, primary, upper primary, secondary to senior secondary levels.  The States/UTs  are  assisted  by  the  central  government  to  implement  the  Samagra  Shiksha  as  a programme  for  providing  universal  access  and  retention,  bridging  the  gender  and  social category  gaps  in  education  and  enhancement  of  learning  level  of  children  at  all  levels  of school education. The Scheme is in accordance with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for Education and has now been aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 that is to ensure inclusive and equitable, quality and holistic school education. The scheme was initially approved from 2018-19 to 2020-21 and has now been revised and extended upto 2025-26.

In  order  to  improve  the  literacy  rate  among  adults  in  the  country,  a  Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Adult Education namely Saakshar Bharat was implemented in the rural areas of 404 districts in 26 States and one UT, that had adult female literacy rate of 50 percent and below as per Census 2001, including left wing extremism affected districts, irrespective of their literacy rates, with special focus on women and other disadvantaged groups, till March 2018. The target was to raise the overall literacy rate of the country to 80 per cent and reduce gender gap to 10 percentage point by end of XII five year plan. During the implementation of Saakshar Bharat scheme, against the overall target of making 7 crore adult non-literate, around 7.64  crore  learners,  passed  the  biannual  Basic  Literacy  Assessment  Tests  conducted  by National Institute of Open Schooling, between August, 2010 to March, 2018, were certified as literates.

Further, a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Adult Education 'Padhna Likhna Abhiyaan' is  being  implemented  in  the  Country  during  the  financial  year  2020-22,  with  a  target  of making 48.16 lakh adult non-literates as literates. After that, the Union of India has approved a new Scheme, namely, 'New India Literacy Programme (NILP)' to align with the NEP and support the States and Union Territories in promoting literacy among non-literates across the country covering 5 crore non-literates. The scheme has been approved with a financial outlay of Rs.1037.90 crore including Central share of Rs.700.00 crore and State share of Rs.337.90 crore during the implementation period from 2022-23 to 2026-27.

(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 containing  the  details  of  state-wise  and  gender-wise  details  of  adult  illiterates  across  the country as per Census 2011 is at Annexure-I.

(c) Aspirational Districts Programme was launched in 2018 to bring rapid transformation in  the  relatively  underdeveloped  Districts.  There  are  112  Aspirational  Districts,  across  26 States and 1 Union Territory. These were selected through a transparent process on the basis of published data. A statement indicating the list of Aspirational Districts is at Annexure - II.

The budget allocation  for  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  of  Adult  Education  'Padhna Likhna Abhiyaan' was Rs.95.25 Crore during 2020-21. The Union of India has approved a new Scheme, namely, 'New India Literacy Programme (NILP)' to align with the NEP and support the States and Union Territories in promoting literacy among non-literates across the country covering 5 crore non-literates. The scheme has been approved with a financial outlay of Rs.1037.90 crore including Central share of Rs.700.00 crore and State share of Rs.337.90 crore during the implementation period from 2022-23 to 2026-27.

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (b)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4138 TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.03.2022 ASKED BY SHRI KALYAN BANERJEE, HONOURABLE MP REGARDING 'ERADICATION OF ILLITERACY'.

State/gender-wise illiterates in the age group of 15 and above across the Country

(As per Census 2011)

| Sl.   | INDIA/STATEs/ UTs   | ILLITERATES   | ILLITERATES   | ILLITERATES   |
|-------|---------------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
| No.   |                     | Persons       | Males         | Females       |
|       | INDIA               | 257,583,612   | 90,764,463    | 166,819,149   |
| 1     | Andhra Pradesh      | 23,706,198    | 8,909,979     | 14,796,219    |
| 2     | Arunachal Pradesh   | 337,961       | 134,798       | 203,163       |
| 3     | Assam               | 6,507,021     | 2,563,030     | 3,943,991     |
| 4     | Bihar               | 27,815,648    | 10,604,882    | 17,210,766    |
| 5     | Chhattisgarh        | 6,018,276     | 1,935,855     | 4,082,421     |
| 6     | Goa                 | 139,997       | 44,700        | 95,297        |
| 7     | Gujarat             | 10,758,275    | 3,519,602     | 7,238,673     |
| 8     | Haryana             | 4,994,133     | 1,677,050     | 3,317,083     |
| 9     | Himachal Pradesh    | 999,020       | 297,977       | 701,043       |
| 10    | Jammu &Kashmir      | 3,094,495     | 1,127,233     | 1,967,262     |
| 11    | Jharkhand           | 8,360,017     | 2,862,471     | 5,497,546     |
| 12    | Karnataka           | 12,675,423    | 4,497,075     | 8,178,348     |
| 13    | Kerala              | 1,672,259     | 489,932       | 1,182,327     |
| 14    | Madhya Pradesh      | 17,424,138    | 6,041,370     | 11,382,768    |
| 15    | Maharashtra         | 16,303,772    | 5,354,061     | 10,949,711    |
| 16    | Manipur             | 483,884       | 160,964       | 322,920       |
| 17    | Meghalaya           | 486,043       | 220,536       | 265,507       |
| 18    | Mizoram             | 64,365        | 23,773        | 40,592        |
| 19    | Nagaland            | 274,593       | 114,927       | 159,666       |
| 20    | Odisha              | 9,152,901     | 3,033,715     | 6,119,186     |
| 21    | Punjab              | 5,572,929     | 2,332,211     | 3,240,718     |
| 22    | Rajasthan           | 17,808,955    | 5,493,962     | 12,314,993    |
| 23    | Sikkim              | 93,412        | 34,933        | 58,479        |
| 24    | Tamil Nadu          | 12,430,529    | 4,050,303     | 8,380,226     |
| 25    | Tripura             | 378,059       | 123,151       | 254,908       |
| 26    | Uttar Pradesh       | 48,272,087    | 16,990,712    | 31,281,375    |
| 27    | Uttarakhand         | 1,707,156     | 485,876       | 1,221,280     |
| 28    | West Bengal         | 17,787,577    | 6,876,146     | 10,911,431    |
| 29    | A & N Island        | 43,079        | 16,507        | 26,572        |
| 30    | Chandigarh          | 119,576       | 46,201        | 73,375        |
| 31    | D &NHaveli          | 65,947        | 23,262        | 42,685        |
| 32    | Daman &Diu          | 26,236        | 10,651        | 15,585        |
| 33    | Lakshadweep         | 4,029         | 993           | 3,036         |
| 34    | NCT of Delhi        | 1,857,501     | 622,940       | 1,234,561     |
| 35    | Puducherry          | 148,121       | 42,685        | 105,436       |

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (c)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4138 TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.03.2022 ASKED BY SHRI KALYAN BANERJEE, HONOURABLE MP REGARDING 'ERADICATION OF ILLITERACY'.

List of Aspirational Districts

| Sl. No.   | State/ UT            |   Total No. of Aspirational districts | Name of the aspirational districts                                                                                                                                                     |
|-----------|----------------------|---------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh       |                                     3 | Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Y.S.R Kadapa                                                                                                                                              |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh    |                                     1 | Namsai                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| 3         | Assam                |                                     7 | Goalpara, Barpeta, Hailakandi, Baksa, Darrang, Udalguri, Dhubri                                                                                                                        |
| 4         | Bihar                |                                    13 | Sitamarhi, Araria, Purnia, Katihar, Muzaffarpur, Begusarai, Khagaria, Banka, Sheikhpura, Aurangabad, Gaya, Nawada, Jamui                                                               |
| 5         | Chattisgarh          |                                    10 | Korba, Rajnandgaon, Mahasamund, Kanker, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur, Bastar, Kondagaon, Sukma                                                                                       |
| 6         | Gujarat              |                                     2 | Dahod, Narmada                                                                                                                                                                         |
| 7         | Haryana              |                                     1 | Mewat                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| 8         | Himachal Pradesh     |                                     1 | Chamba                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| 9         | UT of Jammu& Kashmir |                                     2 | Kupwara, Baramulla                                                                                                                                                                     |
| 10        | Jharkhand            |                                    19 | Garhwa, Chatra, Giridih, Godda, Sahibganj, Pakur, Bokaro, Lohardaga, Purbi Singhbhum, Palamu, Latehar, Hazaribagh, Ramgarh, Dumka, Ranchi, Khunti, Gumla, Simdega, Pashchimi Singhbhum |
| 11        | Karnataka            |                                     2 | Raichur, Yadgir                                                                                                                                                                        |
| 12        | Kerala               |                                     1 | Wayanad                                                                                                                                                                                |
| 13        | Madhya Pradesh       |                                     8 | Chhatarpur,Damoh, Barwani, Rajgarh, Vidisha,Guna, Singrauli, Khandwa                                                                                                                   |
| 14        | Maharashtra          |                                     4 | Nandurbar,Washim, Gadchiroli, Osmanabad                                                                                                                                                |
| 15        | Manipur              |                                     1 | Chandel                                                                                                                                                                                |
| 16        | Meghalaya            |                                     1 | Ribhoi                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| 17        | Mizoram              |                                     1 | Mamit                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| 18        | Nagaland             |                                     1 | Kiphire                                                                                                                                                                                |
| 19        | Odisha               |                                    10 | Dhenkanal, Gajapati,Kandhamal, Balangir, Kalahandi,Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur,Nuapda                                                                                   |
| 20        | Punjab               |                                     2 | Moga, Firozpur                                                                                                                                                                         |
| 21        | Rajasthan            |                                     5 | Dholpur,Karauli, Jaisalmer, Sirohi, Baran                                                                                                                                              |
| 22        | Sikkim               |                                     1 | West Sikkim                                                                                                                                                                            |
| 23        | Tamil Nadu           |                                     2 | Virudhunagar,Ramanathapuram                                                                                                                                                            |
| 24        | Telangana            |                                     3 | Asifabad, Bhoopalapally, Bhadradri-Kothagudem                                                                                                                                          |
| 25        | Tripura              |                                     1 | Dhalai                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| 26        | Uttar Pradesh        |                                     8 | Chitrakoot, Fatehpur, Bahraich, Shrawasti, Balrampur, Siddharthnagar, Chandauli, Sonbhadra                                                                                             |
| 27        | Uttarakhand          |                                     2 | Udham Singh Nagar, Haridwar                                                                                                                                                            |
|           | Total                |                                   112 |                                                                                                                                                                                        |

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