CONCLUSION
 

During 1981-91 the literate population aged 7 and over grew almost twice as fast as the total population aged 7 and over. Despite a significant increase in literacy rates, which was more than offset by general population growth, the illiterate population also grew. The number of illiterate males increased by 3.7 million, and the number of illiterate females increased by 14.4 million. the literacy rate among those aged 7 and over increased from 56.5 to 64.24 per cent among males, and from 29.9 to 39.2 per cent among females. The 1991 literacy rate among rural males, at 57.9 per cent, was three-fourths of the urban male literacy rate, at 81.0 per cent. The literacy rate among rural females, at 30.4 per cent, was less than half of the urban female literacy rate of 63.9 per cent.

There was significant variation in the 1981 literacy rates among SCHEDULED Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Non-Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes. These rates were 25.8 per cent for Scheduled Castes. 19.8 per cent for Scheduled Tribes and 49.6 per cent for Non-Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes., Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were underrepresented among literates and over-represented among illiterates, especially in the case of females. In the country as a whole among persons aged 7 and over, Scheduled Caste females accounted for 15.3 per cent of total females, 6.7 per cent of literate females and 19.0 per cent of illiterate females. Scheduled Tribe females accounted for 7.9 per cent of total females, 2.6 per cent of literate females and 10.2 per cent of illiterate females. Literacy rates for urban areas tend to be substantially higher than for rural areas, for both Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

More than half of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe households in the country in 1981 were totally illiterate; i.e., no member of the household could read and write. In rural areas the percentage of households with no literate member was 52.9 among Scheduled Castes, 60.3 among Scheduled Tribes and 31.7 among Non- Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes. Even in household with 6 or more members, the percentage of households with no literate member was 35.9 for Scheduled Castes and 46.7 for Sched-

58 Literacy Trends in the 1980s in India

uled Tribes compared with 17.4 for Non-Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes and 22.4 for the country as a whole.

The annual budget expenditure on education increased between 1980-81 as the base year, the annual budget expenditure increased by 78.1 per cent. The per capita expenditure on education increased from 49.5 to 73.7 rupees in constant prices, but the percentage of the expenditure on education of the total budget declined from 24.5 in 1980-81 to 19.9 in 1989-90.

In 1991 as in 1981, there was wide variation exists in the literacy rate among State and Union Territories. In 1991 the highest literacy rate was recorded by Kerala and the lowest by Bihar. States and Union Territories where the literacy rate was more than 75 per cent were Kerala, Mizoram, Lakshadweep, Chandigarh, Goa and Delhi. Those with less than 50 per cent were Meghalaya, Orissa, Madhya pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal pradesh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Rajasthan and Bihar.

The projected number of decades required to attain the goal of universal literacy in quite close to the projection from a previous study based on literacy data from the 1971 and 1981 Censuses. In the previous study, 6.2 decades were required to achieve universal literacy, while in the present study, based on the literacy trend between 1981 and 1991, the number of decades required is 5.6 (the starting date for both projections is 1991). The 1981-91 trend indicates that literacy is spreading faster among females than among males.

In 21 States and Union territories the number of decades required to attain universal literacy is less than the number projected in the previous study. In eight States and Union Territories the reverse is true, reflecting the fact that in these States and Union Territories literacy rates improved more slowly during 1981-91 than during 1971- 81. The projections also vary considerably by sex, with the attainment of universal literacy projected to be further in the future for females than for males. If the trend observed during 1981-91 continues, Bihar will take more than eight decades for males and twelve decades for females to attain universal literacy. On the other hand, Kerala and Lakshadweep may attain this goal much sooner, in about 1.5 decades.

Conclusion 59

The Government of India planned in 1986 to achieve universal primary education by 1990, a goal that was not achieved. Now the Government has revised the target by stipulating that "free and compulsory education of satisfactory quality to all children up to 14 years of age" be achieved before the year 2000. Further, the scope of Operation Blackboard (for primary school) is also being enlarged, and the adult literacy program is being pursued with more vigour. With all these efforts, the goal of universal literacy may be achieved sooner than we have projected.