Parliament Question: Women Literacy Rate in Rural India

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5484 TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.03.2026 WOMEN LITERACY RATE IN RURAL INDIA 5484. SHRI T R BAALU: Will the Minister of STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION be pleased to state: (a) whether the Ministry’s attention has been brought to the fact that according to the recent report of National Sample Survey organization, women literacy rate in Rural India is lower at 77.5 percent compared to 88.9 percent in urban areas and if so, the details thereof; (b) whether it is also a fact that in States like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh etc., the women literacy in rural areas is 61.8 and 62.6 percent respectively; (c) if so, whether any special initiatives have been taken under Rural Development programmes to boost women literacy levels in rural areas in the country; and (d) if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION; MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE [RAO INDERJIT SINGH] (a): As per latest Annual Report 2023-24 of Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted by National Sample Survey (NSS) underMinistry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the literacy rate in the age group of 7 years and above is as follows: Rural/Urban Male Female Persons Rural 84.7 70.4 77.5 Urban 92.9 84.9 88.9 Rural+Urban 87.2 74.6 80.9 (b): Yes Sir, as per PLFS Annual Report 2023-24, the rural female literacy rate in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh is 61.8 and 62.6 percent respectively. (c) and (d): In order to improve the literacy rate including rural literacy rate among adults in the country, the Ministry of Education, Government of India has introduced a Centrally Sponsored Scheme called New India Literacy Programme (NILP), popularly known as ULLAS: Understanding of Lifelong Learning for All in Society from 1st April, 2022 upto 2027. The scheme, aligned with the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020, targets adults (aged 15 years and above) who couldn’t go to school. The scheme has five components, namely: (i) Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, (ii) Critical Life Skills, (iii) Basic Education, (iv) Vocational Skills, and (v) Continuing Education. The scheme is implemented in a hybrid mode, allowing States/UTs the flexibility to adopt offline or online mode focusing on imparting foundational literacy and numeracy including critical life skills, digital & financial literacy. ULLAS works with the vision of making Bharat ‘Jan Jan Saakshar’, driven by Kartavyabodh (a sense of duty), utilising school platforms and community engagement through volunteerism to achieve full literacy. The scheme focuses on rural areas, educationally backward areas, women and other vulnerable communities etc. A dedicated ULLAS Mobile App has been developed for registering learners and volunteer teachers and also enables teaching learning process by providing access to primers in 26 languages. With continuous efforts, under ULLAS, more than 2 Crore learners have been registered and more than 1 Crore learners have already appeared in the Literacy Test named Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Assessment Test (FLNAT) across the country. *****