Literacy Rates: An Analysis Based on NSSO Survey 1998

Abstract

Literacy is an important input in the overall development of individuals. In India, data on literacy are provided by the population Census every ten years. However, the need for generating reliable and authentic literacy data in the interim years between one decennial census and another has been felt most acutely by economists, national and international organisations, planners, practitioners, policy makers and, of course, the National Literacy Mission. Therefore, the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) was requested to carry out the required exercise and bring out a consolidated picture of literacy as from the time of the last decennial census in 1991.