LITERACY RATES FOR STATES AND UNION TERRITORIES
The States and Union Territories of India show considerable variability in literacy rates, as shown in Table 11. The 1991 literacy rate for population aged 7 and over varied from 38.5 per cent in Bihar to 89.8 per cent in Kerala. States and Union Territories with literacy rates below 50 per cent were Meghalaya, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Rajasthan and Bihar. States and Union Territories with literacy rates above 75 per cent were Kerala, Mizoram, Lakshadweep, Chandigarh, Goa and Delhi.
The literacy rate increased in every State and Union Territory between 1981 and 1991, as shown in Table 11. Because the increases were larger in some cases than others, the ranking of States and Union Territories by literacy changed somewhat over the decade. The nine states that moved up in the ranking were Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland and Punjab (up by one rank); Himachal Pradesh and Lakshadweep (up by two ranks); and Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim (up by three ranks). In Sikkim the literacy rate increased from 41.6 to 56.9 per cent, and in Arunachal Pradesh from 25.6 to 41.6 per cent. Although these increases were dramatic, the population of these two states was quite small, as shown in the table, so that the dramatic increases in literacy rates for these states did not have a major impact on the national literacy rate.
The eleven states that moved down in the ranking were Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Dadra & Nagar Haveli (down by one rank); and Bihar, Gujarat, Chandigarh and Delhi (down by two ranks). The remaining ten States and Union Territories maintained their ranking over the decade. India's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, continued to occupy the 26th rank, and Bihar, the second most populous state, slipped from 28th to 30th (bottom) rank.
On the whole, Table 11 indicates that the spread of literacy has been fairly uniform among most of the States and Union Ter-
20 Literacy Trends in the 1980s in India
ritories, since ten States and Union Territories did not change their rank and another twelve moved up or down by only one rank. Only eight States and Union Territories shifted two or more ranks over the decade.
Table 11: Literacy rates for population aged 7 and over for States and
Union Territories, 1981 and 1991
India/Stat/ Population aged-7+ Literacy Rate Rank
Union Territory in 1991 (millions) 1981 1991 1981 1991
1 2 3 4 5 6
INDIA* 670.17 43.7 52.2
States
1. Andhra Pradesh 55.54 35.7 44.1 24 25
2. Arunachal Pradesh 0.68 25.6 41.6 30 27
3. Bihar 68.61 32.1 38.5 28 30
4. Goa 1.03 65.7 75.5 6 5
5. Gujarat 34.48 52.2 61.3 12 14
6. Haryana 13.34 43.9 55.8 20 21
7. Himachal Pradesh 4.33 51.2 63.9 13 11
8. Karnataka 37.50 46.2 56.0 19 20
9. Kerala 25.26 81.6 89.8 1 1
10. Madhya Pradesh 53.09 34.2 44.2 25 24
11. Maharashtra 65.43 55.8 64.9 10 10
12. Manipur 1.53 49.7 59.9 16 16
13. Meghalaya 1.38 42.0 49.1 21 22
14. Mizoram 0.56 74.3 82.3 3 2
15. Nagaland 1.00 50.3 61.5 14 13
16. Orissa 26.31 41.0 49.1 23 23
17. Punjab 16.98 48.2 58.5 18 17
18. Rajasthan 35.15 30.1 38.6 29 29
19. Sikkim 0.33 41.6 56.9 22 19
20. Tamil Nadu 48.41 54.4 62.7 11 12
21. Tripura 2.26 50.1 60.4 15 15
22. Uttar Pradesh 110.91 33.4 41.6 26 26
23. West Bengal 56.52 48.6 57.7 17 18
Union Territories
1. A & N Islands 0.24 63.2 73.0 8 8
2. Chandigarh 0.55 74.8 77.8 2 4
3. D & N Haveli 0.11 32.7 40.7 27 28
4. Daman & Diu 0.09 59.9 71.2 9 9
5. Delhi 7.81 71.9 75.3 4 6
6. Lakshadweep 0.04 68.4 81.8 5 3
7. Pondicherry 0.70 65.1 74.7 7 7
*Excludes Assam and Jammu & Kashmir.
Literacy Rates for States and Union Territories 21
Sex Differentials in Literacy Rates The literacy trends for States and Union Territories are further elaborated in Table 12 and Figures 5 and 6, which present literacy rates by sex. In the case of males, the 1991 literacy rates
Table 12: Literacy rates by sex for States and Union Territories,
1981 and 1991
India/State/ Literacy Rate Rank
Union Territory Males Female Males Females
1981 1991 1981 1991 1981 1991 1981 1991
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
INDIA* 56.5 64.2 29.9 39.2
States
1. Andhra Pradesh 46.8 55.1 24.2 32.7 25 25 24 24
2. Arunachal Pradesh 35.1 51.5 14.0 29.7 30 30 29 25
3. Bihar 46.6 52.5 16.5 22.9 27 29 28 29
4. Goa 76.0 83.6 55.2 67.1 7 5 6 5
5. Gujarat 65.1 73.1 38.5 48.6 12 13 14 16
6. Haryana 58.5 69.1 26.9 40.5 19 16 22 22
7. Himachal Pradesh 64.3 75.4 37.7 52.1 13 11 16 12
8. Karnataka 58.7 67.3 33.2 44.4 17 19 20 21
9. Kerala 87.7 93.6 75.6 86.1 1 1 1 1
10. Madhya Pradesh 48.4 58.4 19.0 28.8 23 23 26 26
11. Maharashtra 69.7 76.6 41.0 52.3 10 10 10 11
12. Manipur 64.2 71.6 34.7 47.6 14 14 19 17
13. Meghalaya 46.7 53.1 37.2 44.9 26 28 17 20
14. Mizoram 79.4 85.6 68.6 78.6 3 3 3 2
15. Nagaland 58.6 67.6 40.4 54.7 18 18 12 10
16. Orissa 56.5 63.1 25.1 34.7 20 22 23 23
17. Punjab 55.6 65.7 39.7 50.4 21 21 13 14
18. Rajasthan 44.8 55.0 14.0 20.4 28 26 30 30
19. Sikkim 53.0 65.7 27.4 46.7 22 20 21 18
20. Tamil Nadu 68.0 73.7 40.4 51.3 11 12 11 13
21. Tripura 61.5 70.6 38.0 49.6 15 15 15 15
22. Uttar Pradesh 47.4 55.7 17.2 25.3 24 24 27 28
23. West Bengal 59.9 67.8 36.1 46.6 16 17 18 19
Union Territories
1. A & N Islands 70.3 79.0 53.2 65.5 9 9 7 8
2. Chandigarh 78.9 82.0 69.3 72.3 5 7 2 4
3. D & N Haveli 44.6 53.6 20.4 27.0 29 27 25 27
4. Daman & Diu 74.5 82.7 46.5 59.4 8 6 9 9
5. Delhi 79.3 82.0 62.6 67.0 4 8 4 6
6. Lakshadweep 81.2 90.2 55.3 72.9 2 2 5 3
7. Pondicherry 77.1 83.7 53.0 65.6 6 4 8 7
* Excludes Assam and Jammu & Kashmir.
22 Literacy Trends in the 1980s in India
always exceeded 50 per cent. These ranged from 51.6 per cent in Arunachal Pradesh to 93.6 per cent in Kerala. States and Union Territories below the national average of 64.2 per cent for males were Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Meghalaya, Bihar and Arunachal Pradesh. States and Union Territories with more than 80 per cent literacy for males were Kerala, Ladkshadweep, Mizoram, Pondicherry, Goa, Daman & Diu, Chandigarh and Delhi.
In the case of females, literacy varied tremendously, from 20.4 per cent in Rajasthan to 86.1 per cent in Kerala in 1991. States and Union Territories below the national average of 39.2 per cent for females were Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan. States and Union Territories with more than 60 per cent literacy for females were Kerala, Mizoram, Lakshadweep, Chandigarh. Goa, Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Pondicherry
For both males and females, literacy rates improved in all States and Union Territories between 1981 and 1991. However, there were some changes in the rankings. In the case of males, the eight States and Union Territories that moved up in the ranking were Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu and Pondicherry. All of these states moved up by two ranks, except for Haryana, which moved up by three ranks, from 19 to 16. The nine States and Union Territories that moved down in the ranking were Gujarat. Tamil Nadu and West Bengal (down by one rank); Bihar, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Orissa and Chandigarh (down by two ranks); and Delhi (down by four ranks, from 4 to 8). The remaining 13 States and Union Territories did not change rank between 1981 and 1991.
In the case of females, the nine States and Union Territories that moved up in the ranking were Goa, Mizoram and Pondicherry (up by one rank); Manipur, Nagaland and Lakshadweep (up by two ranks); Sikkim (up by three ranks); and Arunachal Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh (up by four ranks). The thirteen States and Union Territories that moved down in the ranking were Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Andaman and Nicobar Islands (down by one rank); Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Delhi (down by two ranks); and Meghalaya (down by three ranks). The remaining eight States and Union Territories did not change rank between 1981 and 1991.
Literacy Rates for States and Union Territories 23
It is also of some interest to examine the distribution of liter- ates and illiterates by the literacy rate of the State or Union Terri- tory in which they reside. This distribution is shown for females in Table 13. In 1981 ten States and Union Territories with literacy rates below 30 per cent accounted for 53.7 per cent of female popu- lation, 34.3 per cent of female literates and 61.9 per cent of female illiterates. In 1991 the corresponding figures for the six States and Union Territories remaining in this category were 39.4 per cent of female population, 24.9 per cent of female literates and 48.7 per cent of female illiterates. These six States were Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Madhya Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh.
The number of States and Union Territories with female literacy rates above 60 per cent increased from four in 1981 to eight in 1991. In 1991 these eight States and Union Territories accounted for 5.6 per cent of female population, 11.5 per cent of female
Table 13: Per cent distribution of female population, female literates
and female Illiterates aged 7 and over by female literacy
rate of the State and Union Territory (excluding Assam and
Jammu & Kashmir) in which females reside, 1981 and 1991
Female literacy Number of Female Female Female
rate of State and States and population literates illiterates
Union Territory Union
Territories
1 2 3 4 5
1981
Total 30 100.0 100.0 100.0
Upto 30.00 10 53.7 34.3 61.9
30.01-40.00 8 23.1 28.2 21.0
40.01-50.00 4 17.6 24.1 14.9
50.01-60.00 4 0.3 0.5 0.2
60.01 & above 4 5.3 12.9 2.0
1991
Total 30 100.0 100.0 100.0
Upto 30-00 6 39.4 24.9 48.7
30.01-40.00 2 12.5 10.1 13.8
40-01-50.00 8 22.0 25.8 19.5
50.01-60.00 6 20.5 27.1 16.3
60.01 & above 8 5.6 11.5 1.7
24 Literacy Trends in the 1980s in India
literates and only 1.7 per cent of female illiterates. The eight States and Union Territories were Pondicherry, Andaman and Nicobar Is- lands, Delhi, Goa, Chandigarh, Lakshadweep, Mizoram and Kerala.
Table 14 shows male-female differentials in literacy rates for States and Union Territories, again measured in two ways, by male- female differences in literacy rates and by female/male ratios of literacy rates. In all States and Union Territories except Arunachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Chandigarh and Dadra & Nagar Haveli, the male-female difference in literacy rates declined. However, the female/male ratio of literacy rates increased in every State and Union Territory. In 1991 the male-female difference in literacy rates ranged from 7.0 in Mizoram to 34.6 percentage points in Rajasthan. The female/male ratio of literacy rates ranged from 37.1 per cent in Rajasthan to 92.0 per cent in Kerala.
Rural-Urban Differentials in Literacy Rates Table 15 shows literacy rates by rural-urban residence for States and Union Territories for 1981 and 1991. In rural areas the literacy rate ranged from 22.5 per cent in Rajasthan to 80.3 per cent in Kerala in 1981 and from 30.4 in Rajasthan to 88.9 in Kerala in 1991. In 1991 the States and Union Territories with rural literacy rates below the national rural average of 44.5 were Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan. The States and Union Territories with rural literacy rates above 70 per cent were Kerala, Lakshadweep, Mizoram and Goa.
In urban areas the literacy rate ranged from 89.5 per cent in Mizoram and 54.9 per cent in Uttar Pradesh in 1981 and from 93.5 per cent in Mizoram and 61.0 per cent in Uttar Pradesh in 1991. In 1991 the States with urban literacy rates above 90 per cent were Mizoram and Kerala. The States and Union Territories with urban literacy rates below the national urban average of 73.0 per cent were Punjab, Orissa, Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
Table 16 presents rural-urban differentials in literacy rates, again measured in two ways by urban-rural differences in literacy rates and rural/urban ratios of literacy rates. In all States and Un-
Literacy Rates for States and Union Territories 25
ion Territories except Mizoram and Dadra & Nagar Haveli, the urban- rural difference in literacy rates declined between 1981 and 1991. The rural/urban ratio of literacy rates increased in every State and Union Territory. In 1991 the urban-rural difference in literacy
Table 14: Male-female differentials in literacy rates for States and Union Territories, 1981-1991
India/State/Union Male-female difference Female/male ratio
Territory in literacy rates of literacy rates
1981 1991 1981 1991
1 2 3 4 5
INDIA* 26.62 5.05 2.8 61.1
States
1. Andhra Pradesh 22.6 22.4 51.7 59.1
2. Arunachal Pradesh 21.1 21.8 39.9 57.7
3. Bihar 30.1 29.6 35.4 43.6
4. Goa 20.8 16.5 72.6 80.3
5. Gujarat 26.6 24.5 59.1 66.5
6. Haryana 31.6 28.6 46.0 58.6
7. Himachal Pradesh 26.6 23.3 58.6 69.1
8. Karnataka 25.5 22.9 56.6 66.0
9. Kerala 12.1 7.58 6.2 92.0
10. Madhya Pradesh 29.4 29.6 39.2 49.8
11. Maharashtra 28.7 24.3 58.8 68.3
12. Manipur 29.5 24.0 54.0 66.5
13. Meghalaya 9.5 8.2 79.7 84.6
14. Mizoram 10.8 7.0 86.4 91.8
15. Nagaland 18.2 12.9 68.9 80.9
16. Orissa 31.4 28.4 44.4 55.0
17. Punjab 15.9 15.3 71.4 76.7
18. Rajasthan 30.8 34.6 31.3 37.1
19. Sikkim 25.6 19.0 51.7 71.1
20. Tamil Nadu 27.6 22.4 59.4 69.6
21. Tripura 23.5 21.0 61.8 70.3
22. Uttar Pradesh 30.2 30.4 36.3 45.4
23. West Bengal 23.8 21.2 60.3 68.7
Union Territories
1. A & N Islands 17.1 13.5 75.7 82.9
2. Ghandigarh 9.6 9.7 87.8 88.2
3. Dadra & Nagar
Haveli 24.2 26.6 45.7 50.4
4. Daman & Diu 28.0 23.3 62.4 71.8
5. Delhi 16.7 15.0 78.9 81.7
6. Lakshadweep 25.9 17.3 68.1 80.8
7. Pondicherry 24.1 18.1 68.7 18.4