Lok Sabha Question No. 2295 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-09
Subject: Rural Literacy Rate
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Dr. Shrikant Eknath Shinde, Shri Rajesh Verma, Smt. Shambhavi, Shri Naresh Ganpat Mhaske

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

## DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2295 ANSWERED ON 09.12.2024

## Rural Literacy Rate

2295.   Smt. Shambhavi:

Dr. Shrikant Eknath Shinde:

Shri Naresh Ganpat Mhaske:

Shri Rajesh Verma:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a)   the data about increase in rural literacy rate in the last decade;
- (b)  whether the Government initiatives have contributed most significantly to this increase, if so, the comparative analysis thereof;
- (c)   the data on the gender gap in rural literacy during the last ten years; and
- (d)  the challenges being faced by the the Government in achieving 100% rural literacy and the  steps  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  address  them  especially  in  Maharashtra  and Bihar?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY)

(a) to (d): The increase in rural literacy rate from the last decade is as under:

(in per cent)

| Rural Literacy Rate   |   2011 (as per census 2011) |   2023-24 (as per PLFS 2023-24) |
|-----------------------|-----------------------------|---------------------------------|
| (7 years and above)   |                       67.77 |                            77.5 |

The gender gap in Rural Literacy Rate during the last ten years is as under:

(in per cent)

| Gender wise Rural Literacy Rate   | 2011 (as per census 2011)   | 2011 (as per census 2011)   | 2023-24 (as per PLFS 2023-24)   | 2023-24 (as per PLFS 2023-24)   |
|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
| (7 years and above)               | Male                        | Female                      | Male                            | Female                          |
|                                   | 77.15                       | 57.93                       | 84.7                            | 70.4                            |

In order to improve the literacy rate including rural literacy rate among adults in the country, Government of India has launched many Centrally Sponsored Schemes/Programmes from  time  to  time  like  Samagra  Shiksha  Abhiyan  (2018-19  to  2025-26),  Saakshar  Bharat (2009-10 to 2017-18), Padhna Likhna Abhiyan(2020-21 to 2021-22) and ULLAS-Nav Bharat Saaksharta Karyakram/NILP(2022-23 to 2026-27) resulting in positive outcomes.

The  Government  of  India  has  approved  a  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  called  Nav Bharat  Saksharta  Karyakram  (NILP),  popularly  known  as  ULLAS:  Understanding  of Lifelong  Learning  for  All  in  Society  from  1 st April,  2022  upto  2027.  The  scheme,  aligned with  NEP  2020,  targets  adults  (aged  15  years  and  above)  who  couldn't  go  to  school  and focuses on rural areas, educationally backward areas, women etc. The scheme is implemented in a hybrid mode, States/UTs have flexibility in offline, online, or combined approaches. The scheme has five components, namely: (i) Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, (ii) Critical Life  Skills,  (iii)  Basic  Education,  (iv)  Vocational  Skills,  and  (v)  Continuing  Education.  A dedicated  ULLAS  Mobile  App  has  been  developed  for  registering  learners  and  volunteer teachers  and  also  enables  teaching  learning  process  by  providing  access  to  primers  in  26 languages.With  continuous  efforts,  under  ULLAS,  more  than  2  Crore  learners  have  been registered and more than 1 Crore learners have already appeared in the Literacy Test named Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Assessment Test (FLNAT) across the country.

A  large  number  of  population  with  multiple  languages  prevalent  in  the  country, multiple culture contexts, and unstructured learning arrangements are the difficulties faced so far  in  achieving  100%  rural  literacy.  The  scheme  is  implemented  in  both  offline  &  online mode, considering the above. The teaching and learning is done by volunteers in the scheme. Maharashtra is also implementing the scheme and more than 10.87 lakh learners have been registered  under  the  ULLAS  scheme.  The  State  has  conducted  its  First  FLNAT  in  which more  than  4  Lakh  Learners  have  appeared  in  the  examination.  The  state  Bihar  has  not implemented the ULLAS scheme yet.

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