New Delhi, Sept 7, 2020: With 96.2 percent literacy rate, Kerala became India’s most literate state, according to the latest figures released by the National Statistical Office.
Delhi came in second with 89 percent literacy rate. Uttarakhand with 87.6 percent and Assam with 85.9 percent are placed in third and fourth positions in the list.
Earlier, south Indian states had topped as the most literate states. But the latest figures show a different story.
Andhra Pradesh marked the worst literacy rate of 66.4 percent. Bihar with 70.9 percent, Telangana 72.8 percent and Karnataka 77.2 percent are the other states which marked low literacy rate compared to Kerala and Delhi.
India’s average literacy rate is 77 percent. Hence, these states have recorded a lower literacy rate than the national average.
In Kerala, the gap between male and female literacy rate is the lowest at 2.2 percent. At the national level, the male-female literacy gap is recorded at 14.4 percent. That means, when male literacy is recorded at 84.7 percent, female literacy is only at 70.3 percent.
Kerala also has the lowest urban and rural literacy gap of 1.9 percent. On the contrary, Telangana recorded an urban and rural literacy gap of 23.4 percent while Andhra Pradesh recorded it as 19.2 percent.
At the same time, the male-female literacy gap in urban-rural literacy rates is marked at a high 27.2 percent.
In Rajasthan, the divide between male literacy in urban areas and female literacy in rural areas is recorded at 38.5 percent, while Telangana recorded the gap at 38 percent. However, Kerala recorded rural female literacy above 80 percent.
Source: mathrubhumi.com