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Seminar on progress of literacy in india: what the
Census 2001 preveals
NIEPA, New Delhi, October 05, 2002
INDIA’S LITERACY PANORAMA
(Mahendra K. Premi)
Growth in
Literacy
With almost two-thirds of India’s
population aged 7 years of age and above now literate, India has made very
significant progress in this direction.
An important finding of the 2001 census count is that more than half of
the females are now literate and male-female differential has narrowed down to
21.7 percent from 24.8 percent in 1991.
The other important finding of the 2001 census is that, in the country,
the absolute number of illiterates in population aged 7 + has declined for the
first time by almost 32 million (21.4 million among males and 10.5 million
among females). The earlier data from
1961 to 1991 indicated that the absolute number of illiterates was increasing
from one decade to another. There are,
however, states – Bihar, Manipur and Nagaland – and the union territories of
Delhi and Chandigarh - where the number of illiterates has increased further
during the 1990s.
This paper discusses the literacy level and
its growth pattern at the state and district level. The male-female differentials in literacy rates are examined in
some details. The status of the top 20
districts in terms of literacy rates in 1991 census is considered as of 2001
census as to how many have maintained their position and how many have slid
down and the factors accounting for the same. Similarly, the position of those
20 districts that had the lowest literacy rates in 1991 is examined in the 2001
census particularly looking at their present position. Considering the decline in the number of
illiterates in the country for the first time, the paper examines the nature of
changes that have taken place as also the distribution of the districts where
the number of illiterates has still increased.
Their statewise distribution and the factors responsible for a slow
growth in literacy therein would be considered.
Trends in Literacy Rates
It may be noted at the outset that,
prior to the 1991 census, the Indian census was excluding only children aged
0-4 years in counting the literate population.
The literacy rates were computed by taking the total population in the
denominator. On the eve of the 1991
census it was decided that all children in the 0-6 age group will be treated as
illiterate by definition and literacy rates would be computed for population
aged 7 years and above. In comparison
to such (net) literacy rates, those computed by taking the total population in
the denominator are called “crude literacy rates.” As it is not feasible to work out net literacy rates right from
1901 onward, Table 1 gives crude literacy rates for India for the past one
century, from 1901 to 2001.
Table 1: Crude literacy rates by sex, India,
1901-2001
|
Census
year |
Crude
literacy rates |
Decadal
change (in percentage points) |
|
Persons
|
Males
|
Females
|
Persons
|
Males
|
Females
|
|
1901
|
5.4
|
9.8
|
0.6
|
--
|
--
|
--
|
|
1911
|
5.9
|
10.6
|
1.0
|
0.5
|
0.8
|
0.4
|
|
1921
|
7.2
|
12.2
|
1.8
|
1.3
|
1.6
|
0.8
|
|
1931
|
9.5
|
15.6
|
2.9
|
2.3
|
3.4
|
1.1
|
|
1941
|
16.1
|
24.9
|
7.3
|
6.6
|
9.3
|
4.4
|
|
1951
|
16.7
|
25.0
|
7.9
|
0.6
|
0.1
|
0.6
|
|
1961
|
24.0
|
34.4
|
13.0
|
7.3
|
9.4
|
5.1
|
|
1971
|
29.4
|
39.4
|
18.7
|
5.4
|
5.0
|
5.7
|
|
1981
|
36.2
|
45.9
|
24.8
|
6.8
|
6.5
|
6.1
|
|
1991
|
42.8
|
52.7
|
32.2
|
6.6
|
7.8
|
7.4
|
|
2001
|
55.3
|
64.1
|
45.8
|
12.5
|
11.4
|
13.6
|
Source: RGCCI 2001:
(2001a: 114)
Note: 1.
Figures from 1901 to 1941 are for undivided India.
2.
Figures
for 1981 exclude Assam and those for 1991 exclude Jammu and Kashmir as no
census could be conducted in Assam in 1981 and in Jammu and Kashmir in 1991.
3. Figures for 2001 exclude the entire Kachchh
district; Morvi, Maliya-Miyana and Wankaner talukas of Rajkot district; Jodiya taluka of Jamnagar
district of Gujarat state, and entire Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh
where 2001 census enumeration could not be held due to natural calamities.
The crude literacy rates in various censuses
from 1901 onward show an increase for both males and females. The rates were very low till 1931 but there
was a sudden jump in 1941, from 9.5 percent to 16.1 percent. It, however, remained almost stationary at
16.7 percent in 1951. This may be due
to the fact that earlier figures were for undivided India and, secondly, after
the partition of the country into India and Pakistan in 1947, almost eight
million people came to the Indian Union from newly created Pakistan, and around
six to seven million Muslims went from India (Premi 1995: 628). It is almost impossible to assign reasons
for the observed figures.
There has been a monotonous increase of 5 to
8 percent in the literacy rates after 1951, it becoming 12.5 percent in the
1991-2001 decade. Thus the literacy rate
has become more than three times during the past half-a-century.
It is noteworthy that, in recent years, the
increase in female literacy rate has been higher than in male literacy rate
narrowing the male-female gap particularly during the 1980s and 1990s. This can be explained partly by the general
expansion of education, partly by the present policies of positive intervention
followed in favour of girls and by implementation of programmes like DPEP,
literacy promotion programmes through NLM and Adult Literacy Programme etc.
Net Literacy Rates
Literacy rates for the population
aged 7 years and above presented in Table 2 indicate a very significant
increase for both males and females particularly during the 1990s. As of 2001 census, almost two-thirds of
India’s population is now literate, the male literacy rate has risen to
three-fourths while females literacy rate at 54.2 percent indicates that more
than half the female population in the country is now literate, that is, has
the ability to read and write with understanding. An important finding of Table 2 is the
reduction of gap in male and female literacy rates from 26.6 percent in 1981 to
21.7 percent in 2001.
Table 2: Literacy Rates by sex, India, 1981-2001
|
Year
|
Literacy
rate |
Male
–female
|
|
Person
|
Male
|
Female
|
Gap
|
|
1981
|
43.6
|
56.4
|
29.8
|
26.6
|
|
1991
|
52.2
|
64.1
|
39.3
|
24.8
|
|
2001
|
65.4
|
75.8
|
54.2
|
21.6
|
Source: RGCCI 2001 (2001a: 115)
Note:
1
Figures for 1981 exclude Assam and those for 1991
exclude Jammu and Kashmir as no census could be conducted in Assam in 1981 and
in Jammu and Kashmir in 1991.
2 Figures for 2001
do not include the entire Kachchh district; Morvi, Maliya-Miyana and Wankaner talukas of Rajkot district;
Jodiya taluka of Jamnagar district of Gujarat
state, and entire Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh where 2001 census
enumeration could not be held due to natural calamities.
Literacy Rates by Zones and States
The national level literacy rate for persons
aged 7 years above conceals more than what it reveals as there are great
statewide disparities. For example, Kerala with literacy rate of 90.9 percent
has secured first rank closely followed by Mizoram. Among the other six states/UTs with more than 80 percent literacy
rate, the five are union territories and Goa is the only state in this
category.
Improvement in Literacy Rates
At the national level the literacy
rate in population 7+ improved from 52.2 percent in 1991 to 65.5 percent in
2001, an improvement of 13.3 percentage points during the decade. It is only Kerala and Goa in the south,
Mizoram in the northeast, Himachal Pradesh in the north and Maharashtra in the
west zone that recorded literacy rates of more than 75 percent in 2001. All the UTs except Dadra and Nagar Haveli
have also recorded literacy rate of more than 80 percent (Table 3). In 1991, among the major states (with
population above 10 million), Tamil Nadu secured second rank in literacy rate,
while it has slipped to the third rank now.
Table 3: Percentage of Literates to
Population age 7 Years and above by
Zones and States, 1991 and 2001
|
Zone/State and Union Territory |
1991 |
2001 |
Gains in literacy rates (LR 2001-LR 1991) |
|
|
P |
M |
F |
P |
M |
F |
P |
M |
F |
|
INDIA |
52.2 |
64.1 |
39.3 |
65.2 |
75.6 |
54.0 |
13.0 |
11.5 |
14.7 |
|
NORTH ZONE |
51.2 |
63.8
|
36.9 |
66.5 |
77.6 |
54.1 |
15.3 |
13.8 |
17.2 |
|
Haryana |
55.9 |
96.1 |
40.5 |
68.6 |
79.3 |
56.3 |
12.7 |
10.2 |
15.8 |
|
Himachal Pradesh |
63.9 |
75.4 |
52.1 |
77.1 |
86.0 |
68.1 |
13.2 |
10.6 |
16.0 |
|
Jammu & Kashmir |
51.5 |
63.3 |
38.8 |
65.4 |
75.9 |
54.2 |
13.9 |
12.6 |
15.4 |
|
Punjab |
58.5 |
65.7 |
50.4 |
70.0 |
75.6 |
63.6 |
11.5 |
9.9 |
13.2 |
|
Rajasthan |
38.6 |
55.0 |
20.4 |
61.0 |
76.5 |
44.3 |
22.4 |
21.5 |
23.9 |
|
Chandigarh (UT)
|
77.8 |
82.0 |
72.3 |
81.8 |
85.7 |
76.7 |
4.0 |
3.7 |
4.4 |
|
|