Lok Sabha Question No. 2230 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-08
Subject: Female Literacy
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Shyam Yadav Singh

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

## LOKSABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2230 TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.03.2021

## Female Literacy

## 2230. SHRI SHYAM SINGH YADAV:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a) the present female literacy rate in Uttar Pradesh and its ranking in the country;

- (b) the reasons for low female literacy rate in that state; and

(c) the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Central Government to increase the rate of female literacy there?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF EDUCATION (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 Uttar |Pradesh, in the age group of 7 and above, as per Census 2011 is at Annexure. The female literacy rate in Uttar Pradesh is 57.18 per cent compared to the national average of female literacy rate of 64.63 per cent and stands at 31 st 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 70 districts in Uttar Pradesh, 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.

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## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2230 FOR 08.03.2021 ASKED BY HON'BLE M.P. SHRI SHYAM SINGH YADAV REGARDING 'FEMALE LITERACY'.

## 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  |