FOREWORD
 

A study titled "Recent Literacy Trends in India" was undertaken by the authors in 1986 and brought out by this office as Occasional Paper 1 of 1987. This study was well received and had to be reprinted.

The proposal from the Program on Population of the East-West Center to update this study on the basis of the 1991 Census literacy data was a welcome suggestion and this office agreed to print this study as an Occasional Paper.

The present updated study, based primarily on the 1991 Census provisional data, was completed by the authors at Honolulu in October, 1992. As the final literacy data was likely to be released soon thereafter, the printing of the study was withheld. The study has now been revised by the authors at New Delhi on the basis of the 1991 Census final literacy data released recently. The 1991 Census literacy data for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe population has not yet been released; hence, the present study is restricted to the 1981 Census literacy data. It can, however, be further revised when the 1991 Census literacy data for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe population is released.

I thank the authors for the efforts they have put in and hope that, like the earlier study of 1986, this work will also be of interest to data users. I also thank the Program on Population of the East-West Center and the United States Agency for International De- velopment for making this work possible by giving financial support,

                                                               A. R. Nanda
        New Delhi                                        Registrar General &
        January 29, 1993                           Census Commissioner, India