Lok Sabha Question No. 5178 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-04-03
Subject: Literacy Rate
Ministry: Education
Asked by: T. R. Paarivendhar

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5178

ANSWERED ON 03.04.2023

## Literacy Rate

## 5178 . DR. T.R. PAARIVENDHAR:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  illiteracy  in  India  is  alarming  and  74.04%  of  people  were counted as literate as per 2011 Census;
- (b)  whether the Government has taken note that there is a wide disparity in illiteracy between rural and urban areas and male and female population and also the condition in villages is worse than in cities;
- (c) if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the percentage of existing illiteracy calculated in India as on date, Statewise;
- (e) the other action taken or proposed to be taken by the Government to achieve 100% literacy in the country; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

## (SMT. ANNPURNA DEVI)

- (a)  to  (f)  :  The  literacy  data  in  India  is  collected  through  decennial  census operation conducted by the Registrar General of India. As per the Census of India 2011, the literacy rate of India was 72.98%. As per information from National Statistical  Office,  Ministry  of  Statistics  and  Programme  Implementation,  the literacy rate of India in 2017 was 77.7%.

As per Census 2011, the literacy rate in rural areas across the country is 67.77% (Male : 77.15% and Female : 57.93%) compared to the urban literacy rate of 84.11% (Male : 88.76% and Female : 79.11%).

In order to increase the literacy rate in India, the Department of School Education and  Literacy  launched  an  integrated  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  for  school education i.e. 'Samagra Shiksha' with effect from the FY 2018-19. The scheme subsumes the three erstwhile Centrally Sponsored Schemes viz. 'Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan'  (SSA),  'Rashtriya  Madhyamik  Shiksha  Abhiyan'  (RMSA)  and 'Teacher  Education'.  It  envisages  'school'  as  a  continuum  from  pre-school, primary, upper primary, secondary to senior secondary levels. The States/Union Territories 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 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  is  aligned  with  the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 i.e. to  ensure inclusive and  equitable, quality and holistic school education. The scheme was initially approved from FY 2018-19 to FY 2020-21 and extended upto FY 2025-26.

In order to improve the literacy rate among adults in India, a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Adult Education namely Saakshar Bharat was implemented  in  the  rural  areas  of  404  districts  in  26  States  and  one  Union Territory, that had adult female literacy rate 50 per cent and below as per Census of India 2001, including left wing extremism affected districts, irrespective of their literacy rates, with special focus on women and other disadvantaged groups. The target was to raise the overall literacy rate of India to 80 per cent and reduce gender gap to 10 percentage point by end of XII Five Year Plan. The Scheme was  extended  upto  31.03.2018.  During  the  implementation  of  the  Saakshar Bharat  Scheme,  against  the  overall  target  of  7.00  crore  adult  non-literates  as literates, around 7.64 crore learners (Female: 5.38 crore Male: 2.26 crore) who passed  the  biannual  Basic  Literacy  Assessment  Tests  conducted  by  National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) between August, 2010 to March, 2018, were certified as literates.

Subsequently,  a  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  of  Adult  Education  'Padhna Likhna Abhiyaan' was implemented in India during the FY 2020-21, with target of  48.16  lakh  adult  non-literates  as  literates.  The  Scheme  was  extended  upto

31.03.2022.

The  Government  of  India  has  approved  a  new  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme, namely - Nav Bharat Saksharta Karyakram (New India Literacy Programme NILP) to align with the National Education Policy 2020 and to support all the States and Union Territories in promoting literacy among non-literates across the country  covering  5.00  crore  non-literates  under  Foundational  Literacy  and Numeracy of the scheme 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.

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) to (f) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  5178  FOR  03.04.2023 ASKED  BY  DR.  T.R. PAARIVENDHAR, HOUNARABLE MP REGARDING 'LITERACY RATE'.

State/UT 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           | Literacy Rate   | Literacy Rate   | Literacy Rate   |
|----------|--------------------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
| S. No.   | Name of States           | Persons         | Male            | Female          |
| 1.       | Andaman &Nicobar Islands | 86.63           | 90.27           | 82.43           |
| 2.       | Andhra Pradesh           | 67.02           | 74.88           | 59.15           |
| 3.       | Arunachal Pradesh        | 65.38           | 72.55           | 57.70           |
| 4.       | Assam                    | 72.19           | 77.85           | 66.27           |
| 5.       | Bihar                    | 61.80           | 71.20           | 51.50           |
| 6.       | Chandigarh               | 86.05           | 89.99           | 81.19           |
| 7.       | Chhattisgarh             | 70.28           | 80.27           | 60.24           |
| 8.       | Dadra &Nagar Haveli      | 76.24           | 85.17           | 64.32           |
| 9.       | Daman &Diu               | 87.10           | 91.54           | 79.55           |
| 10.      | Goa                      | 88.70           | 92.65           | 84.66           |
| 11.      | Gujarat                  | 78.03           | 85.75           | 69.68           |
| 12.      | Haryana                  | 75.55           | 84.06           | 65.94           |
| 13.      | Himachal Pradesh         | 82.80           | 89.53           | 75.93           |
| 14.      | Jammu &Kashmir           | 67.16           | 76.75           | 56.43           |
| 15.      | Jharkhand                | 66.41           | 76.84           | 55.42           |
| 16.      | Karnataka                | 75.36           | 82.47           | 68.08           |
| 17.      | Kerala                   | 94.00           | 96.11           | 92.07           |
| 18.      | Lakshadweep              | 91.85           | 95.56           | 87.95           |
| 19.      | Madhya Pradesh           | 69.32           | 78.73           | 59.24           |
| 20.      | Maharashtra              | 82.34           | 88.38           | 75.87           |
| 21.      | Manipur                  | 76.94           | 83.58           | 70.26           |
| 22.      | Meghalaya                | 74.43           | 75.95           | 72.89           |
| 23.      | Mizoram                  | 91.33           | 93.35           | 89.27           |
| 24.      | Nagaland                 | 79.55           | 82.75           | 76.11           |
| 25.      | NCT of Delhi             | 86.21           | 90.94           | 80.76           |
| 26.      | Odisha                   | 72.87           | 81.59           | 64.01           |
| 27.      | Puducherry               | 85.85           | 91.26           | 80.67           |
| 28.      | Punjab                   | 75.84           | 80.44           | 70.73           |
| 29.      | Rajasthan                | 66.11           | 79.19           | 52.12           |
| 30.      | Sikkim                   | 81.42           | 86.55           | 75.61           |
| 31.      | Tamil Nadu               | 80.09           | 86.77           | 73.44           |
| 32.      | Tripura                  | 87.22           | 91.53           | 82.73           |
| 33.      | Uttar Pradesh            | 67.68           | 77.28           | 57.18           |
| 34.      | Uttarakhand              | 78.82           | 87.40           | 70.01           |
| 35.      | West Bengal              | 76.26           | 81.69           | 70.54           |