World Literacy Day: Is all the talk of development just hogwash! There’s almost a 20% gap between male and female literacy levels in India!

Ever since UNESCO proclaimed September 8 as the International Literacy Day, we have been celebrating it every year. The aim is to highlight the importance of being a literate, which means anyone above the age of seven who can read and write with understanding in any language, with respect to individuals, communities, societies and countries. Let’s start with our own country – India where the majority lives in rural areas. But can we consider these areas at par with urban areas in term of adult literacy, access to primary schooling, computer accessibility and other facilities? Let’s find out!

The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has recently conducted a survey to know its performance over one key development indicator, literacy. It covered the length and breadth of the country with samples taken from over 36,000 households in rural areas and more than 29,000 in urban areas from over 4,500 villages and about 3,500 urban blocks. The overall literacy rate in the country was pegged at 75%. Not Bad! Now allow us to bring you some more interesting observations when literacy rate was seen from the angle of rural and urban areas.

(Image: Indiatimes/Reuters)