The gap between male and female literacy is widest among Hindus

Shubhadeep Choudhury
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 3

The gap between male and female literacy rates is widest among the Hindus.

It is the narrowest among Jains, who also have the best literacy rate among all religious groups in the country.

According to an answer by Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi to an un-starred question asked in Rajya Sabha by V Vijaysai Reddy of YSR Congress Party, while 81.7 per cent Hindu males are literate, the corresponding figure for females is 64.3.

Hindus also have the second-lowest overall literacy rate in the country. It is 73.3 per cent.

With 68.5 per cent, Muslims are at the bottom of the chart as far as overall literacy is concerned. However, the gap between male and female literacy rates among Muslims is narrower than in Hindus.

While 68.5 per cent of Muslim men are literate, the corresponding figure for the ladies is 62 per cent.

The overall literacy rate of the Sikhs is 75.4.

Male literacy figure relating to Sikhs is 80, which is the second-lowest. The female literacy rate of the community is an impressive 70.3.

Jains, Christians and Buddhists are having the best literacy rates among the six religious groups mentioned by the Minister in his reply.

The overall literacy rate of Jains is 94.9 per cent, with males clocking 96.8 and females 92.9. The corresponding figure of the Christians is 84.5 (overall), 87.7 (male) and 81.5(female). For Buddhists, the figures are 81.3 (overall), 88.3 (male) and 74 (female).

Muslims constitute approximately seven per cent of all Indians who have studied up to graduation level or above.

During the last seven years, more than 4.52 Crore scholarships have been provided to eligible students belonging to six notified minority communities (Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, Christians, Sikhs and Muslims), out of which 53 per have been given to the girl students.

Due to the various schemes being implemented by the Ministry, there has been a significant reduction in the drop-out rate, especially among the Muslim girl students, Naqvi informed.

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