Literacy in India is a key for social-economic progress.[2][3] The 2011 census, indicated a 2001–2011 literacy growth of 97.2%, which is slower than the growth seen during the previous decade. An old analytical 1990 study estimated that it would take until 2060 for India to achieve universal literacy at then-current rate of progress.[4]
Census of India pegged the average literacy rate to be 73% in 2011 while National Statistical Commission surveyed literacy to be 77.7% in 2017–18. Literacy rate in urban areas was 87.7%, higher than rural areas with 73.5%. There is a wide gender disparity in the literacy rate in India[5] and effective literacy rates (age 7 and above) was 84.7% for men and 70.3% for women.[6] The low female literacy rate has a dramatically negative impact on family planning and population stabilisation efforts in India. Studies have indicated that female literacy is a strong predictor of the use of contraception among married Indian couples, even when women do not otherwise have economic independence.[7] The census provided a positive indication that growth in female literacy rates (11.8%) was substantially faster than in male literacy rates (6.9%) in the 2001–2011 decadal period, which means the gender gap appears to be narrowing.[8]
Literacy involves a continuum of learning enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society."[9]
The National Literacy Mission defines literacy as acquiring the skills of reading, writing and arithmetic and the ability to apply them to one's day-to-day life. The achievement of functional literacy implies (i) self-reliance in 3 Rs, (ii) awareness of the causes of deprivation and the ability to move towards amelioration of their condition by participating in the process of development, (iii) acquiring skills to improve economic status and general well-being, and (iv) imbibing values such as national integration, conservation of the environment, women's equality, observance of small family norms.
The working definition of literacy in the Indian census since 1991 is as follows:[10]
Literacy rate
Also called the "effective literacy rate"; the total percentage of the population of an area at a particular time aged seven years or above who can read and write with understanding. Here the denominator is the population aged seven years or more.
Crude literacy rate The total percentage of the people of an area at a particular time who can read and write with understanding, taking the total population of the area (including below seven years of age) as the denominator.[11]
^Ranking of states and union territories by literacy rate: 2011 Census of India Report (2013)
^UNESCO: Literacy, UNESCO, archived from the original on 20 May 2009
^"Number of literates and Literacy Rate by sex and residence". censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
^How Female Literacy Affects Fertility: The Case of India(PDF), Population Institute, East-West Centre, December 1990, retrieved 25 November 2009
^"India: Literacy rate 1981–2018". Statista.
^NSO 2018, p. I.
^A. Dharmalingam; S. Philip Morgan (1996), "Women's work, autonomy, and birth control: evidence from two south India villages", Population Studies, 50 (2): 187–201, doi:10.1080/0032472031000149296, JSTOR 2174910
^Literates and Literacy Rates – 2001 Census (Provisional), National Literacy Mission, archived from the original on 19 June 2009, retrieved 27 November 2009
^UNESCO Education Sector, "The Plurality of Literacy and its Implications for Policies and Programmes: Position Paper". Paris: United National Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, 2004, p. 13, citing an international expert meeting in June 2003 at UNESCO.
^Preventive and social medicine by K. Park, 19th edition(2007), M/s Banarsidas Bhanot, Jabalpur, India
^Cite error: The named reference censusindia.gov.in was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
LiteracyinIndia is a key for social-economic progress. The 2011 census, indicated a 2001–2011 literacy growth of 97.2%, which is slower than the growth...
territory directly by Central government. LiteracyinIndia Education inIndia Gender inequality inIndia Census 2011, pp. 131. Census 2011, pp. 110–111...
complex educational challenges. Education in Bihar significantly lags behind other states inIndia. LiteracyIn Absolute Numbers- 5,96,75,607 Male - 3,99...
in-india Archived 24 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Literacy Rate and Gender Gap in Sechduled Castes inIndia, (viewed on 9 March 2011), "Literacy Rate...
Literacy is the ability to read and write. Broadly, literacy may be viewed as "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the...
Financial literacy is the possession of skills, knowledge, and behaviors that allow an individual to make informed decisions regarding money. Financial...
Development inIndia, was a 1944 memorandum prepared at the behest of the British-run Government of India that outlined the future development of literacy and...
amongst the 36 states and union territories inIndiain terms of literacy rate . Indian states ranking by literacy rate "Provisional Population Totals Paper...
Jainism is India's sixth-largest religion and is practiced throughout India. Per the 2011 census, there are 4,451,753 Jains in the 1.35 billion population...
education system inIndia includes both private and public universities. Public universities are supported by the Government of India and the state governments...
annually to US$2,601, and its literacy rate from 16.6% to 74%. From being a comparatively destitute country in 1951, India has become a fast-growing major...
than 20 years for a literacy of 95%. LiteracyinIndia is not homogeneous, some states inIndia have higher literacy rates than others. Kerala, a south-Indian...
China on sex-selective abortion. India also scores poorly on overall female to male literacy and health rankings. India with a 2013 ranking of 101 had an...
faced low levels of literacy among its population, soon to be estimated at 23.54% for men and 7.62% for women in the 1951 Census of India. The government...
amongst the 36 states and union territories inIndiain terms of literacy rate. Indian states ranking by literacy rate "Provisional Population Totals Paper...
Studies of India's population since 1881 have focused on such topics as total population, birth and death rates, geographic distribution, literacy, the rural...
cognitive abilities in using information and communication technologies to create, evaluate, and share information. While digital literacy initially focused...
British Indiain 1947. Bihar has a total literacy rate of 63.82% (73.39% for males and 53.33% for females), recording a growth of 20% in female literacy over...
percent in rural areas. In 1964, the results of the second national census showed that the country's total population was 723 million, and the literacy campaign...
Legal awareness, sometimes called public legal education or legal literacy, is the empowerment of individuals regarding issues involving the law. Legal...
Computer literacy is defined as the knowledge and ability to use computers and related technology efficiently, with skill levels ranging from elementary...
Media literacy is an expanded conceptualization of literacy that includes the ability to access and analyze media messages as well as create, reflect...
a list of countries by literacy rate. The global literacy rate for all people aged 15 and above is 86.3%. The global literacy rate for all males is 90...
India's second-largest religion, with 14.2% of the country's population, or approximately 172.2 million people, identifying as adherents of Islam in a...
literacy rate of 74.4%. The average work participation stood at 39.79%. Hinduism is an ancient religion with the largest religious grouping inIndia,...
Global Information
