Lok Sabha Question No. 5484 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-25
Subject: Women Literacy Rate in Rural India
Ministry: STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION
Asked by: Shri T R Baalu

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5484 TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.03.2026

## WOMEN LITERACY RATE IN RURAL INDIA

## 5484.    SHRI T R BAALU:

Will the Minister of STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Ministry's attention has been brought to the fact that according to the recent report of National Sample Survey organization,  women  literacy  rate  in  Rural  India  is  lower  at 77.5 percent compared to 88.9 percent in urban areas and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  it  is  also  a  fact  that  in  States  like  Rajasthan,  Madhya Pradesh  etc.,  the  women literacy  in  rural  areas  is  61.8  and  62.6 percent respectively;
- (c) if so, whether any special initiatives have been taken under Rural Development programmes to boost women literacy levels in rural areas in the country; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER  OF  STATE  (INDEPENDENT CHARGE)  OF  THE  MINISTRY  OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME  IMPLEMENTATION; MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE [RAO INDERJIT SINGH]

- (a): As  per  latest  Annual  Report  2023-24  of  Periodic  Labour  Force Survey  (PLFS)  conducted  by  National  Sample  Survey  (NSS)  under

Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the literacy rate in the age group of 7 years and above is as follows:

| Rural/Urban   |   Male |   Female |   Persons |
|---------------|--------|----------|-----------|
| Rural         |   84.7 |     70.4 |      77.5 |
| Urban         |   92.9 |     84.9 |      88.9 |
| Rural+Urban   |   87.2 |     74.6 |      80.9 |

(b): Yes  Sir,  as  per  PLFS  Annual  Report  2023-24, the  rural  female literacy rate in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh is 61.8 and 62.6 percent respectively.

(c) and (d):  In order to improve the literacy rate including rural literacy rate among adults in the country, the Ministry of Education, Government  of  India  has  introduced  a  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme called  New  India  Literacy  Programme  (NILP),  popularly  known  as ULLAS: Understanding of Lifelong Learning for All in Society from 1st April,  2022  upto  2027.  The  scheme,  aligned  with  the  New  Education Policy  (NEP)  2020,  targets  adults  (aged  15  years  and  above)  who couldn't  go  to  school.  The  s cheme  has  five  components,  namely:  (i) Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, (ii) Critical Life Skills, (iii) Basic Education,  (iv)  Vocational  Skills,  and  (v)  Continuing  Education. The scheme  is  implemented  in  a  hybrid  mode,  allowing  States/UTs  the flexibility to  adopt  offline  or  online  mode  focusing  on  imparting foundational literacy and numeracy including critical life skills, digital & financial literacy. ULLAS works with the vision of making Bharat 'Jan Jan  Saakshar',  driven  by  Kartavyabodh  (a  sense  of  du ty),  utilising school platforms and community engagement through volunteerism to achieve full literacy. The scheme focuses on rural areas, educationally backward  areas,  women  and  other  vulnerable  communities  etc. 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.

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