The government’s attempts at improving literacy levels in the country through the introduction of revolutionary laws and programmes like the Right To Education Act and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan appear to be bearing fruit. The country has witnessed a remarkable increase in literacy levels by 9.21 per cent in the past 10 years to reach 74.04 per cent of the total population.
In a significant revelation in the statistics of the provisional data of the 2011 Census released on Thursday, females literacy level saw a marked jump as compared to males between 2001-2011. While female literacy in 2001 stood at 53.67 per cent, it has gone up to 65.46 per cent in 2011. The male literacy in comparison rose from 75.26 to 82.14 per cent. The gap of 21.59 percentage points recorded between male and female literacy rates in 2001 census has reduced to 16.68 percentage points in 2011. This signals that the gender gap in literacy rate has reduced significantly over the decade.
Kerala with 93.91 per cent continues to occupy the top position among states, while Bihar remained at the bottom of the ladder with a literacy rate of 63.82 per cent followed by Arunachal Pradesh at 66.95 per cent. Smaller states and Union Territories have continued to perform well in increasing literacy levels while the bigger states have lagged behind in the endeavour.
The worst performing states in the literacy rates are Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, Rajasthan (67.05), Jharkand (67.63), Andhra Pradesh (67.66) Jammu and Kashmir (68.74) and Uttar Pradesh (69.72).
Mizoram’s Serchhip (98.76 per cent) and Aizawl (98.50 per cent) recorded highest literacy rates among districts. In all, 10 states and Union Territories, Kerala, Lakshadweep (92.28), Mizoram (91.58), Tripura (87.75), Goa (87.40), Daman and Diu (87.07), Puducherry (86.55), Chandigarh (86.43), NCT of Delhi (86.34) and Andaman and Nicobar Islands (86.27), achieved a literacy rate of above 85 per cent, which was the target set by the Planning Commission to be achieved by 2011-12.
The data states that literate constitute 74 per cent of the total population aged seven and above and illiterates form 26 per cent. In 2001 the literacy rate stood at 64.83 per cent which has now risen to 74.04 per cent in 2011.