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Seminar on progress of literacy in india: what the Census 2001 preveals
NIEPA, New Delhi, October 05, 2002, india
CHANGES IN GENDER DISPARITY IN LITERCAY RATE DURING 1991-2001
By
Dr.P.K.Bhargava
National Institute of Adult Education New Delhi, India
Introduction
Literacy, an important tool for communication, learning, and information, is a virtual precondition for an individual's evolution and national development. Eradication of illiteracy has been one of the major concerns of the government of India since independence. The need for a literate population and universal education for all children in the age group 6-14 years was recognized as a crucial input for nation building and was given due consideration in the constitution as well as in the successive five year plans. A major number of significant programmes have taken since independence. To achieve a sustainable threshold level of 75% of literacy rates by 2005, the National Literacy Mission (NLM) was launched on 5th May 1988. In spite of the various efforts made by the government of India, female literacy rate had been very low in the past. It needs no reiteration that female literacy is the key to all aspects of development. The narrowing of the gender gap in the literacy rate is the key to a vibrant India.
According to Census of India 2001 provisional population figures, the female literacy rate has increased from 39.29 per cent in 1991 to 54.16 in 2001 (i.e.; by 14.87 percentage points); whereas; in case of males it has increased from 64.13 per cent to 75.85 per cent (i.e.; by 11.69 percentage points) during the same period. It means female literacy in the last 10 years has grown at a faster rate then the male literacy rate. This has resulted narrowing down of the gender gap in literacy rate from 24.84 in 1991 to 21.69 percentage points in 2001. It may be mentioned that improvement in literacy rate from 1991 to 2001 has not been uniform in all the states. There was variation from one state to another and with in a state from one district to another. However, a common feature remained in almost all the districts of the country - the gender disparity in literacy rate has reduced with the increase in literacy rates of both males and females.
Objectives:
There are following objectives of the paper.
- To present state wise scenario of literacy rates and well as in gender gap in literacy rates over 1991-2001
- To present the district wise scenario of gender gap in literacy rates; and
- To estimate state as well as district-wise index of gender disparity in literacy.
The Scenario in the States:
Tables 1 to 3 present state-wise improvements in literacy rates during 1991-2001. It can be seen from the table that in 1991 there were two states namely Rajasthan and Bihar had their literacy rates in the range of 30 to 40 per cent. By 2001 the literacy rate has increased by more than 20 percentage points (from 38.55% to 61.03%) in Rajasthan. It could be considered as a significant achievement. Whereas; in Bihar there was not such improvement. Here literacy rate has increased by less than 20 percentage points (i.e.; from 37.49 % to 47.53 %) during the same period. Similar trend has been observed if we look at the improvement in female literacy rates in these two states. In Rajasthan where female literacy rate was in the range of 20-30 per cent has increased more than 20 percentage points (from 20.44% to 44.34%). In case of Bihar female literacy rate has increased from 21.99% in 1991 to 33.57% i.e.; by 11.58 percentage points. In addition to the state Rajasthan, Chhatisgarh is another state that has recorded an increase of literacy rate from 42.91% to 65.18% in the last ten years. Female literacy rate has increased in this state from 27.52% to 52.40% i.e., by 24.87 percentage points. Madhya Pradesh also recorded an increase of 20.93 percentage points in literacy rates during 1991-2001. In the remaining states improvement in the literacy rates was less than 20 percentage points in the last ten years.
State-wise analysis shows that gender gap in literacy rate was 30 percentage points or more in 5 states namely; Uttaranchal, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh in 1991. In 2001, out of above 5 states only Rajasthan had gender gap of 30 percentage points or more in spite of the fact that both male and female literacy rates in Rajasthan were higher than literacy rates of male and female in Bihar. On the other hand there were four states and union territories namely Chandigarh, Mijoram, Meghalaya and Kerala had gender gap in literacy rate less than 10 percentage points in 1991. In 2001 one more i.e., Nagaland added in this category. In almost all the states except in Dadra and Nagar Havali, gender gap in literacy has narrowed down. In fact, in 1991 literacy rate of the Dadra and Nagar Havali was very low (40.71%) and it has increased to 60.03 in 2001. During 1991-2001 the male literacy rate has increased relatively faster than that of female literacy rate. Opposite was true in all other states and union territories (See table 1).
Percentage distribution of population and literates by ranges of literacy rates by states & Union territories is given in table 4. As can be seen from the table that there were 11 states and union territories with a share of 51% of the of the country's population had literacy rates 50% and below in 1991. As per Census of India 2001 result Bihar is the only state having literacy rate less than 50% with a share of about 8 % of the country's population. It may also be observed that number of states and union territories having more than 80% literacy rate in 1991 census was only 3 has increased to 9 in 2001. It is significant to note that there were 20 states and union territories in the country where female literacy was 50% or less in 1991 has reduced to six in 2001. In fact, during 1991-2001 there was overall improvement in literacy rates. Relatively higher improvement in case of female literacy rate resulted reduction in the gender gap in literacy rates in almost all the states of the country.
Table - 4
Percent Distribution of Population and Literates by
Literacy Rates : 1991- 2001
|
|
1991 |
2001 |
||||
|
Ranges of literacy rate |
States/ Union territories |
Population (Percent) |
Literates (Percent) |
States / Union territories |
Population (Percent) |
Literates (Percent) |
|
Total |
34 |
100% |
100% |
34 |
100% |
100% |
|
0-40 |
2 |
12.97 |
9.13 |
- |
- |
- |
|
40-50 |
9 |
38.36 |
31.22 |
1 |
8.17 |
5.64 |
|
50-60 |
8 |
21.70 |
23.71 |
3 |
19.13 |
16.05 |
|
60-70 |
6 |
21.90 |
22.28 |
16 |
50.35 |
50.70 |
|
70-80 |
6 |
1.48 |
2.19 |
5 |
17.40 |
20.72 |
|
80+ |
3 |
3.57 |
6.47 |
9 |
4.96 |
6.89 |
|
Total |
34 |
100% |
100% |
34 |
100% |
100% |
|
Male |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
0-40 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
40-50 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
50-60 |
10 |
47.91 |
40.29 |
- |
- |
- |
|
60-70 |
8 |
24.56 |
25.57 |
4 |
11.20 |
8.80 |
|
70-80 |
8 |
22.64 |
26.99 |
15 |
61.88 |
60.16 |
|
80+ |
8 |
4.89 |
7.15 |
15 |
26.92 |
31.04 |
|
Female |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
34 |
100 |
100 |
34 |
100 |
100 |
|
0-40 |
10 |
50.83 |
33.72 |
2 |
10.77 |
6.62 |
|
40-50 |
10 |
24.54 |
28.64 |
4 |
21.70 |
16.68 |
|
50-60 |
6 |
19.46 |
26.42 |
9 |
34.22 |
34.26 |
|
60-70 |
4 |
1.33 |
2.30 |
10 |
28.24 |
34.30 |
|
70-80 |
3 |
0.16 |
0.31 |
6 |
1.63 |
2.30 |
|
80+ |
1 |
3.68 |
8.61 |
3 |
3.44 |
5.84 |
It can be seen from table 5 that in 1991 there were 62 districts in the country recorded literacy rate of 70 per cent and above with a share of only 11 percent of the country's population and 18 percent of the literates. In 2001 the corresponding figures for the districts with 70 percent and above literacy rates has increased to 210 which accounts for 38 percent of countries population and 46 percent of the literates in the country. Thus, during the
Table - 5
Distribution of Population and Literates by Range of Literacy Rate of
Districts - India and State / Union Territory : 1991- 2001
|
|
1991 |
2001 |
||||
|
Ranges of literacy rate |
No of districts |
Population (Percent) |
Literates (Percent) |
No of districts |
Population (Percent) |
Literates (Percent) |
|
<10 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
10-19.99 |
3 |
.31 |
0.10 |
- |
- |
- |
|
20-29.99 |
42 |
6.37 |
3.20 |
- |
- |
- |
|
30-39.99 |
110 |
18.96 |
12.65 |
25 |
4.12 |
2.18 |
|
40-49.99 |
144 |
24.56 |
20.93 |
50 |
8.61 |
5.84 |
|
50-59.99 |
116 |
19.49 |
20.50 |
122 |
21.42 |
17.85 |
|
60-69.99 |
100 |
18.96 |
24.31 |
170 |
28.31 |
28.14 |
|
70-79.99 |
37 |
5.95 |
8.78 |
151 |
26.54 |
31.08 |
|
80-89.99 |
14 |
3.22 |
5.42 |
46 |
9.04 |
12.00 |
|
90+ |
11 |
2.18 |
4.11 |
13 |
1.95 |
2.93 |
|
Total |
577 |
100% |
100% |
577 |
100% |
100% |
|
Male |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<10 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
10-19.99 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
20-29.99 |
4 |
0.35 |
0.14 |
- |
- |
- |
|
30-39.99 |
27 |
4.10 |
2.29 |
1 |
0.07 |
0.03 |
|
40-49.99 |
77 |
12.98 |
9.08 |
19 |
2.73 |
1.60 |
|
50-59.99 |
134 |
21.76 |
18.49 |
41 |
6.58 |
4.67 |
|
60-69.99 |
150 |
26.58 |
26.62 |
105 |
17.83 |
15.17 |
|
70-79.99 |
114 |
21.45 |
25.58 |
187 |
33.24 |
32.81 |
|
80-89.99 |
55 |
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