India is home to one-third of world illiterates

Literacy and education are means of socio-economic progress of any country. There has been considerable improvement in literacy in India since Independence, particularly during the past decades. India’s literacy rate  rose to 48 per cent in 1991 from 12% at the beginning of Independence; it further increased 74.04% in 2011. Although this is a greater than six-fold improvement, the level is well below the world average literacy rate of 84%, India at present has the largest illiterate population. Analysis  of data indicate that literacy rate increase only  sluggishly. As per Population Census of India 2011, the Literacy rate of India has grown only by 9%, which is slower than the growth witnessed during the previous decade. There is a wide gender disparity in the literacy rate in India:  male literacy rate stood at  82.14% and female literacy rate remained at 65.46% in 2011. However, the census indicated a positive  trend as the  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. The gap of 21.59 percentage points recorded between male and female literacy rates in 2001 census has been reduced to 16.68 percentage points in 2011. Kerala with 93.9% literacy rate is the top state in India. Lakshadweep and Mizoram are at second and third position with 92.3% and 91.06% literacy rate respectively. Bihar with 63.08% literacy rate is the last in terms of literacy rate in India. Every census since 1881 has indicated rising literacy in the country, but the population growth rate has been high enough that the absolute number of illiterates rose with every decade. Today, there are about 270 million adult illiterates in the country, which is more than one-third of the illiterate adults in the world. The bulk of Indian illiterates live in the country's rural areas, where social and economic barriers play an important role in keeping the lowest strata of society illiterate. Government programmes alone, however well intentioned, may not be able to dismantle barriers built over centuries. Major social reformation efforts are sometimes required to bring about a change in the rural scenario. The consequences of being illiterate can lead to social awkwardness and not being able to find a job to support one’s lifestyle or family. The most important effect of illiteracy on society is that, it works as an inhibitor. The achievements made in the past decades are due to various schemes and programmes implemented by the Central and State governments. More vigorous steps have to be undertaken to boost literacy rates, particularly in those states with low literacy rates. Nevertheless, steps will have to be made to intensify fertility control programmes. Otherwise such efforts to reduce the number of illiterates will not be successful.