[ VOLUME 5 I ISSUE 3 I JULY– SEPT 2018] E ISSN 2348 –1269, PRINT ISSN 2349-5138 Disparity in the Level of Literacy and Factors affecting Female Literacy: A Case Study of ,

PINKI HIRA* & ANUPAM DAS** *Research Scholar, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal. **Assistant Professor, Department Of Geography, Mahavidyalaya, , Kolkata.

Received: May 24, 2018 Accepted: July 13, 2018

ABSTRACT Literacy is one of the prime socio-economic elements of modern society in a population that accelerates the social and economic development. Illiteracy, particularly among female in a society, results in stagnation of technology, social and cultural lags and overall economic progress. today deeply faces Social, Economic, and Political threats which can be improved to a better state by enhancing the true education. The paper uses the data of two consecutive census reports, 2001 and 2011 ‘Primary Census Abstract (PCA) of West Bengal’ and calculates the gap in female and male literacy, disparity index between male female literacy both in rural and urban areas of Uttar Dinajpur district, and also assess the correlation of various socio economic variables on the female literacy rate in the district. Uttar Dinajpur was also the only district in West Bengal where the absolute number of illiterates exceeded the number of literates. In terms of male literacy rates too, Uttar Dinajpur occupied the lowest rank among the districts of West Bengal and was just one step ahead of lowest-ranked in terms of female literacy. While assessing the correlation three variables i.e. male literacy rate, percentage of urban population and mean household size were found to have statistically significant impact on the female literacy rate. So the improvement of literacy and educational performance deserve continuing priority in Uttar Dinajpur. An improvement in these variables as discussed here should be prime priority in the development planning for significant outcomes.

Keywords: Correlation, Disparity Index, Female literacy, Illiteracy, Literacy rate, Socio Economic variables.

1. Introduction: Literacy and education is considered an important key indicator of human resource development. Illiteracy, on the other hand, takes away from man his dignity, perpetuates ignorance, poverty and mental isolation, deters peaceful and friendly international relations and hampers social advancement, economic growth and political maturity (Sawant and Athawale, 1994). The definition of literacy varies from one country to another country. According to UNESCO definition Literacy is the “ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, compute and written material associate with varying contracts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in inability individual to achieve their goal, to developed their knowledge and potential and to participate fully in their community and wider society”. According to Census of India, definition ‘Literacy’ means “a person who can read and write a simple message in any language with understanding is considered literate”. But there are a huge inequality found between male and female literacy. A recent study says that educating women is not a charity, it is a good economics and if developing nations are to be abolished poverty, they should enrich their women by education. Educating a man is educating a single person but educating a woman is educating a whole nation. Uttar Dinajpur district with high compound population growth at 2.56 percent per annum between 1991- 2001 (West Bengal 1.76% p.a.) and even faster rural population growth at 2.76 percent p.a. (West Bengal 1.58% p.a.), Uttar Dinajpur was the fastest growing district in the state in terms of its population. The district remains predominantly rural, with an urbanisation rate of just over 12 percent of the population in 2001 (West Bengal 28%). Uttar Dinajpur has had a strong bearing on the present state of education in the district. From the time it was constituted till its bifurcation in 1992, the erstwhile district of West Dinajpur had traditionally been a low literacy district in West Bengal. The bifurcation of West Dinajpur in 1992 brought its educationally backward areas under the new district of Uttar Dinajpur, subsequent to which the new district recorded overall literacy of 47.9 percent and female literacy of 36.5 percent in 2001. According 2011 Census data the total literacy rate of Uttar Dinajpur District is 80.73%. Out of which the male literacy rate is 74.48% and the female literacy rate is 67.58%. The present paper is an attempt to evaluate the educational development among females of the various C.D. Blocks of Uttar Dinajpur.

2. Objectives: The main purpose of this paper is to study: a. To study block wise decadal change of literacy rate from 2001 to 2011. b. To calculate the block wise disparity between male and female literacy levels.

96헒 IJRAR- International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews Research Paper [VOLUME 5 I ISSUE 3 I JULY – SEPT 2018] e ISSN 2348 –1269, Print ISSN 2349-5138 http://ijrar.com/ Cosmos Impact Factor 4.236 c. To identify disparity in literacy between male and female in urban-rural areas at block level. d. To assess the correlation of various socio economic variables on the female literacy rate in Uttar Dinajpur.

3. Study Area: Uttar Dinajpur or North Dinajpur is located northern part of the Indian state of West Bengal, it comprises two subdivisions- and Islampur. It is situated between 25°11' to 26°49' North latitude and 87°49' to 90°00' East longitude. Its boundary lies in , in the north; Malda, Dakshin Dinajpur in the south; Panchagarh, Thakurgaon, Dinajpur districts of Bangladesh in the east and , Purnia, Katihar districts of in the west. NH-27 and NH-12 pass through the heart of the district.The total geographical area of the district is 3142 sq. Km. Total population of the district is 3,000,849 and population density is 960/sq. Km. Uttar Dinajpur has a very large concentration of underprivileged social groups like Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as well as within its rural population. Hence the low rural literacy attainments in this district are strongly influenced by the extent of concentration of these underprivileged social groups.

Fig. 1 In 2001, Uttar Dinajpur emerged as the least literate district in West Bengal in terms of the percentage of total literates. Uttar Dinajpur was also the only district in West Bengal where the absolute number of illiterates exceeded the number of literates. In terms of male literacy rates too, Uttar Dinajpur occupied the lowest rank among the districts of West Bengal and was just one step ahead of lowest-ranked Purulia in terms of female literacy.

4. Materials and Methods: The present study is based on the secondary data. The data about decadal change of literacy rate from 2001 to 2011, male and female literacy rate, urban and rural literacy rate from the years 2001 & 2011 are collect from the District Census Handbooks, Human development report of Uttar Dinajpur District. A large number of books, articles, various website, dissertations, published and unpublished works from different sources have been used. The data being mostly analyzed in Microsoft Excel and STATA 12. The analysis and inferences were finally carried out through textual and tabular formats followed by the description of the study results. C.D. Block wise spatial variation in literacy rates has been shown on maps by using Arc GIS. In mapping part, the maps were collected from District Census Handbook, Uttar Dinajpur, Village and Town Directory 2011. Literacy rate has been calculated by using the following formula:

Number of Literates (above 6 years) Literacy rate (%) = ------x 100 Total population

Sopher's Disparity Index (Sopher DIs, 1974) is a well-accepted measurement technique to identify the disparity between rural-urban literacy groups by using the following formula: DI = Log (X2 /X1) +Log (100 - X1) / (100 - X2)

Research Paper IJRAR- International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews 97헒 [ VOLUME 5 I ISSUE 3 I JULY– SEPT 2018] E ISSN 2348 –1269, PRINT ISSN 2349-5138 However, the measurement technique of disparity as proposed by Sopher (1974), have several drawbacks as it does not satisfy the axioms of additive monotonicity, redistribution, repetitive transfers and multiplicative monotonicity (Kundu and Rao 1985). Therefore, Kundu and Rao (1985) suggested a modification to the Sopher's Index which satisfies all the four axioms. It is expressed as: DI = Log (X2 / X1) + Log (200 – X1) / (200 – X2) Where, DI = Disparity Index X2 = Percentage of Urban Literates. X1 = Percentage of Rural Literates. X2 is considered for Urban and X1 is considered for Rural literacy rate.

5. Result and Discussion: Spatio-temporal Changes in Total Literacy Rate: In the year 2001, the literacy rate for the study region as a whole was only 47.9 percent and in 2011, the total literacy rate was 59.1 percent (Table 1 and fig. 2). In the year 2001 this rate was higher (more than 50 percent) in Raiganj (51.5), (56.7), (54.1) blocks. The proportion of literates was moderate i.e. between 35 to 50 percent in (47.4), Chopra (43.3), Islampur (38.4) and (37.6) blocks, while it was very low (less than 35 percent) in -I (31.6), Goalpokhar-II (34.1) blocks. As per 2011 Census, It is the highest (67.9 percent) for Hemtabad Block followed by Kaliaganj Block (66.5 percent) and Raiganj Block (63.5 percent) respectively. While it is low in Goalpokhar-II (46.1 percent) and Goalpokhar-I (42.3 percent) blocks. In Fig. 3 all the blocks of the district are arranged into four categories in descending order according to the Gap between 2011-2001 literacy rates i.e. high (more than 15.01%), moderate (13.50-15.00 %), low (12.01- 13.50 %) and very low (less than 12 %). The study shows that high gap is found in Chopra and Karandighi blocks, moderate is found in Ishlampur and Kaliaganj blocks. Gap between 2011 to 2001 literacy rate is remaining almost lowest in Goalpokhar-I (10.7 %) during the entire time period.

Table-1: Pattern of Literacy & Decadal Change in Literacy Rate (2001-2011) C.D. Block wise. Block Literacy rate Literacy rate Gap Between (%)2001 (%)2011 2011-2001 Chopra 43.3 59.9 16.6 Islampur 38.4 53.3 14.9 Goalpokhar-I 31.6 42.3 10.7 Goalpokhar-II 34.1 46.1 12.0 Karandighi 37.6 53.4 15.8 Raiganj 51.5 63.5 12.0 Hemtabad 56.7 67.9 11.2 Kaliaganj 54.1 66.5 12.4 Itahar 47.4 58.9 11.5 Total 47.9 59.1 11.2 Source: District Census Handbook, Uttar Dinajpur, 2001 & 2011.

Fig. 2 Fig. 3 98헒 IJRAR- International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews Research Paper [VOLUME 5 I ISSUE 3 I JULY – SEPT 2018] e ISSN 2348 –1269, Print ISSN 2349-5138 http://ijrar.com/ Cosmos Impact Factor 4.236 Male-Female Disparity in Literacy (2001 & 2011): There is always a gap between male and female literacy rates. Uttar Dinajpur is also not apart from that. The literate rate among male is higher than that of females. As per 2011 Census data total literacy rate of the district is 59.07 with a male-female literacy rate gap of 13.35. The male and female literacy rates in the district are 65.52 and 52.17 respectively. The highest male literacy rate for the block in 2001 was Hemtabad (67.1 %) where in that same place female literacy rate was 45.7 % (Table 2). During the year 2011, the highest male literacy rate is found in Kaliaganj block (74.58 %) followed by Hemtabad (73.61 %) where the female literacy rate is only 57.95 % and 61.89 % respectively. In 2001 and 2011 lowest female literacy rate for the block was Goalpokhar-I only 19.8 % and 35.08 % respectively. In 2011 the highest male–female Disparity Index in literacy rate is recorded as 0.1810 in Goalpokhar-I C.D.Block. Both Fig. 4 and 5 Male-Female Disparity Index are divided into four zones. In 2001 Fig. 4 reveals four zones i.e. high (0.36-0.40), moderate (0.31-0.35), low (0.26-0.30), very low (0.21-0.25). And in 2011 Fig. 5 also reveals four zones i.e. high (0.19-0.21), moderate (0.16-0.18), low (0.13-0.15), very low (0.10-0.12). Disparity Index (table 2) indicates the declining trends of gender gap in literacy during the period of 2001 to 2011 of Uttar Dinajpur District. In 2011 highest Disparity Index value is 0.1810 and it is found in

Goalpokhar-II. On the other hand lowest value is 0.1138 and it is found in Hemtabad block. Table 2: Block Wise Male-Female disparity, 2001 & 2011 Literacy rate (2001) Literacy rate (2011) Block Male Female Male-Female Male Female Male-Female Disparity Index Disparity Index 1 Chopra 55.9 29.7 0.3472 67.38 51.85 0.1619 2 Islampur 50.3 25.7 0.3577 61.13 45.41 0.1757 3 Goalpokhar-I 42.6 19.8 0.3915 48.80 35.08 0.1810 4 Goalpokhar-II 44.0 23.5 0.3260 52.46 39.24 0.1634 5 Karandighi 48.9 25.5 0.3453 60.43 46.08 0.1602 6 Raiganj 63.0 39.1 0.2770 70.23 56.37 0.1395 7 Hemtabad 67.1 45.7 0.2316 73.61 61.89 0.1138 8 Kaliaganj 66.4 41.1 0.2836 74.58 57.95 0.1636 9 Itahar 57.8 36.5 0.2603 64.68 52.90 0.1236 Source: District Census Handbook, Uttar Dinajpur, 2001 & 2011.

Fig. 4 Fig. 5

Research Paper IJRAR- International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews 99헒 [ VOLUME 5 I ISSUE 3 I JULY– SEPT 2018] E ISSN 2348 –1269, PRINT ISSN 2349-5138 So, higher the degree of inequality corresponds to a lower level of social welfare. Fig. 6 shows the gap in Disparity index of the blocks of Uttar Dinajpur district between the periods of 2001 to 2011. The disparity index of the nine blocks is shown in the above figure. A value of index close to one shows lesser inequality in 2001 and 2011 literacy rate. A larger gap in the two lines in the above graph shows a greater disparity in the district during that period.

Fig. 6

Table: 3 Summary statistics of male-female Literacy rate (%) Mean Std. Dev. Min Max Male 63.7 8.93988 48.8 74.58 Female 49.6411 8.87865 35.08 61.89 Source: Computed by authors, 2018

BOX PLOT SHOWING MALE FEMALE LITERACY RATE, 2011

80

70

60

50

Literacy rate in % Literacy inrate

40 30 FEMALE MALE

Fig. 7 Literacy rate, 2011: Here the Box Plot Diagram (Fig. 7) is showing the distribution of male literacy rate and female literacy rate. This diagram helps us the following observations about how the distribution of literacy rate differs across female and male. Highest literacy rate among male was found in Kaliaganj block (73.58) and lowest literacy rate was found in Goalpokhar-I block (48.80). Among the female, highest literacy rate was found in Hemtabad block i.e. 61.89 and lowest literacy rate was found in Goalpokhar-I block i.e. 35.08. Median (Q2) is 64.68 for male literacy rate & for female it is 45.41. Spread can be judged by the Interquartile Range (IQR) or by the heights of the boxes. IQR for female literacy rate was 10.96 and for male literacy rate was 9.8. Where, Q1 (25%) was 60.43 and Q3 (75%) was 70.23 for male literacy rate. On the other hand Q1 (25%) was 45.41 & Q3 (75%) was 56.37 for female literacy rate. There was no outlier in both male & female literacy rate. The vast gap of nearly 38 percentage points that separates urban literacy (80.5%) from rural literacy (42.9%) in Uttar Dinajpur is the widest for any district in West Bengal. Given the high concentration of rural illiteracy in Uttar Dinajpur, it becomes important to evaluate its regional dimensions within the district. Several important characteristics about the distribution of literacy between rural and urban areas in the C.D. Blocks of Uttar Dinajpur are revealed here (Table: 4 and 5).

100헒 IJRAR- International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews Research Paper [VOLUME 5 I ISSUE 3 I JULY – SEPT 2018] e ISSN 2348 –1269, Print ISSN 2349-5138 http://ijrar.com/ Cosmos Impact Factor 4.236 Male-Female Disparity in literacy in Rural Areas of Uttar Dinajpur, 2001-2011: Uttar Dinajpur district had highest inequality rural female literacy found in West Bengal. It was also low rural female literacy rate with compare to other district. It is to be noticed from Table 4 that out of 9 C.D.Blocks in the district 5 C.D.Blocks have recorded higher literacy rate than that of District (59.1 %). In 2001 and 2011 the highest male literacy rate in rural areas of the district is found in Hemtabad with 67.1 % and Kaliaganj C.D. Block with 74.58 % respectively. It is also cleared that in 2001 and 2011 the highest female literacy rate is recorded in Hemtabad C.D.Block with 45.7 % and 61.89 % respectively. Both in 2001 and 2011 the lowest male and female literacy rate is found in Goalpokhar-I C.D.Block with 42.6 %, 19.8 % and 48.39 %, 34.62 % respectively. Kaliaganj C.D.Block has the highest gap in male-female literacy rate with 16.63. Table 4: Male-Female Disparity in Literacy in Rural Areas of Uttar Dinajpur (2001-2011)

Block Literacy rate (2001) Literacy rate (2011)

Total Male Female DI Total Male Female DI

1 Chopra 43.3 55.9 29.7 0.3472 59.71 67.24 51.62 0.1631 2 Islampur 38.4 50.3 25.7 0.3577 53.53 61.13 45.41 0.1757 3 Goalpokhar-I 31.6 42.6 19.8 0.3915 41.82 48.39 34.62 0.1832 4 Goalpokhar-II 34.1 44.0 23.6 0.3239 46.07 52.46 39.24 0.1634 5 Karandighi 37.6 48.9 25.5 0.3453 53.42 60.43 46.08 0.1602 6 Raiganj 51.5 63.0 39.1 0.2770 62.78 69.59 55.54 0.1424 7 Hemtabad 56.7 67.1 45.7 0.2316 67.88 73.61 61.89 0.1138 8 Kaliaganj 54.1 66.4 41.1 0.2836 66.5 74.58 57.95 0.1636 9 Itahar 47.4 57.8 36.5 0.2603 58.55 64.33 52.45 0.1251 Source: District Census Handbook, 2001 & 2011

Male-female Disparity in Literacy in Urban areas, Uttar Dinajpur: Uttar Dinajpur district comprises of 9 C.D. Blocks and out of which five are having urban population in their constituents Census Towns (CTs). Table 5 gives the distribution of literacy rate and Disparity in male-female literacy rate of all towns of the district. As per 2011 census data the average urban literacy rate in the district is 80.28. Male literacy rate (83.91) dominates over the female literacy rate (76.32). In 2001 the highest literacy rate is recorded in the Raiganj (84.6 %) and the lowest is in Nachhratpur Katabari (CT) (63.3%). In 201 the highest literacy rate is recorded in the Kaliaganj Municipality (85.95 %) and the lowest is in Nachhratpur Katabari (CT) (77.35 %). In 2011 Sex wise literacy rates shows Kaliaganj Municipality occupy the top position in case of both male literacy rate (89.77) and female literacy rate (81.95). To calculate Disparity Index the highest male-female disparity in 2001 is found in Municipality (0.1609) while the lowest is observed in the Raiganj Municipality (0.0775).The highest male- female disparity in literacy is found in Dalkhola (M) (0.1186) while the lowest is observed in the Kosba (CT) (0.0703).

Table 5: Male-Female Disparity in Literacy in Urban Areas of Uttar Dinajpur (2001 & 2011) Literacy Rate - 2001 Literacy Rate - 2011 Town/ Municipality Total Male Female DI Total Male Female DI Chopra (CT) NIL NIL NIL NIL 68.64 73.90 62.92 0.1061 Hanskunda (CT) NIL NIL NIL NIL 64.85 71.01 58.39 0.1104 Nachhratpur Katabari (CT) 63.3 70.2 55.5 0.1486 77.35 81.66 72.64 0.0827 Kasba (CT) 82.5 89.2 74.8 0.1295 84.07 88.29 79.51 0.0703 Itahar (CT) NIL NIL NIL NIL 77.73 81.76 73.75 0.0732 Islampur (M) 72.6 78.2 66.0 0.1151 80.7 85.62 75.37 0.0926 Dalkhola (M) 68.9 76.6 60.0 0.1609 67.67 73.49 61.31 0.1186 Raiganj (M) 84.6 88.7 80.0 0.0775 81.7 84.30 78.80 0.0494 Research Paper IJRAR- International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews 101헒 [ VOLUME 5 I ISSUE 3 I JULY– SEPT 2018] E ISSN 2348 –1269, PRINT ISSN 2349-5138

Kaliaganj (M) 79.2 85.5 72.5 0.1183 85.95 89.77 81.95 0.0693 Source: Census of India, 2001 & 2011.

The degree of inter-block variations in literacy in Uttar Dinajpur district is also very high, with a literacy gap of over 25 percentage points separating rural literacy rates in the least literate block i.e. Goalpokhar-1 (31.6%) and most literate block i.e. Hemtabad (56.7%). Chopra is the only block where rural literacy exceeds the district average. Another striking characteristic is observed in rural areas, with the exception of Hemtabad and Itahar, gender literacy gaps widen as overall literacy rates increase, indicating that the male sections in rural society in Uttar Dinajpur exercise better use of educational opportunities and literacy. In urban areas lowest D.I. value has found in Raiganj Municipality area. In rural areas, the highest D.I. value is found in the highest male literacy rate area and the lowest D.I. value is found in second highest male literacy rate area. Here in the first case, the level of female literacy is constricted by widespread male literacy, while in the second case, improvements in female literacy are assisted by high prevalence of male literacy. Correlation among Socio Economic Factors Affecting Female Literacy Rate: A large numbers of socio economic variables directly impact on the level of female literacy rate. Here the study revealed to ascertain those variables that can significantly influence the female literacy rate. For that purpose of this study a set of four independent variables was considered. These independent variable were: male literacy rate, Women participation in workforce both main and marginal workers, mean household size and percentage of urban population.

Table 6: Correlation of various socio economic variables on the female literacy, 2011 rate Computed Socio-economic variables p value ‘r’ value Mean Household size -0.8486* 0.004 % Of Urban Population 0.8121** 0.001 Female worker (main & marginal) 0.646 0.06 Male Literacy 0.9859** 0.00 ** Correlation is significant at 0.01 level Source: Census Report, 2011 * Correlation is significant at 0.05 level

There are positive relationship between the female literacy rate and male literacy rate, percentage of urban population and Female workforce participation rate. But negative relationship is observed between the female literacy rate and mean household size. Out of these explanatory variables three variables i.e. male literacy rate (MLR), percentage of urban population and mean household size were found to have statistically significant impact on the female literacy rate.

6. CONCLUSION: The above study reveals that overall there is significant increase in literacy rates in the district, which has increased from 67.91% to 76.64% between the years 2001 to 2011. There is a significant difference in literacy rates between males and females in the both rural and urban area of the district. The study clearly indicates that there is an undoubtedly significant wide range of variations over the period of ten years in gender disparities in literacy rate between 2001 and 2011 censuses among the C.D. Blocks of Uttar Dinajpur distrct. It was observed that the gender disparities in the western and southeastern districts are relatively high as compared to the northern and eastern districts of command area. Gender disparity in urban area is less than rural area. In rural area Mansa has highest in disparity index. The study revealed that the male literacy level has a positive impact on the female literacy rate with correlation value of 0.9859. This positive relation has been established by several other studies also (Samudra, 2014; Hashmi et al., 2009). Some other variables like percentage of urban population and female workforce participation have positive correlation with female literacy. Education reduces inequalities which mean it improving the status within the family. To reduce this gap in gender literacy proper educational opportunities should be provided for women especially in the rural areas at village level.

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