Female Literacy in India: the Urban Dimension. PUB DATE 88 NOTE 32P

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AUTHOR Raju, Saraswati TITLE Female Literacy in India: The Urban Dimension. PUB DATE 88 NOTE 32p. PUB TYPE Reports - Research/Technical (143)

EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Census Figures; Comparative Analysis; *Females; Foreign Countries; Human Geography; *Literacy; *Males; *Socioeconomic Status IDENTIFIERS *India

ABSTRACT This paper presents a sociogeographic analysis of female literacy in India and compares literacy rates of females and males in scheduled (reported separately on the census) and nonscheduled (reported as one group on the census) castes. In Indian cities, male literacy is higher than female literacy, and literacy rates are higher for nonscheduled caste females than scheduled caste females. In most cities, the disparity between gender literacy rates is lower, and this is also true within the castes. Social movements in India are examined to offer explanations for the literacy patterns within regions. Community populations containing either Moslems who generally lower or Christians who generally raise literacy rates can also be responsible for the disparity. The analysis concludes that female literacy is part of a larger societal context. Maps and graphs are included, as well as a list of the 128 cities analyzed in this study. (DJC)

*********************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * *********************************************************************** FEMALE LITERACY IN INDIA: THE URBAN DIMENSION

Saraswati Raju

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Center for Study of Regional Development Jawaharlal Nehru University New Dalhi 110067, India

2 BEST COPYAVAILABLE FEMALE LITERACY IN INDIA: THEURBAN DIMENSION

S. Faju Cenier for Studyof Regional Development Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi 110067, India

Introduction

A consistent feature of Indiansociety has beena very low literacy among schJduled castes as against nonscheduled castes consequentupon socially enforced.

deprivation of formergroup.1 Within the two segmentsa further disparity in literacy exists between male and female components whereby literacyamong females exhibits a perpetual low profile. Thus, at the turn of thecentury literacy rate for females in general was only 0.60 percent compared to 9.83percent for males. After a gap of eight decades including three decades ofplanned development, female literacy is 24.82 percent as against 46.89 percent for males (Nuna 1986:2-3). However, in urban areas, especially in cities, the disparitybetween the two sexes is lower both for nonscheduled and scheduled caste population.It is of interest to note that a corresponding lowering of disparity in literacybetween nonschedu-

led and scheduled castes doesnot occur (Kundu 1986: 446).

As pointed out by Sopher (1980: 130), in India, impact of Christianity,spread of secular Western notions of egalitarianism and modernisation,working towards narrowing down of such disparities, have interacted with region-specifictradi- tional context that accord women (and scheduled castes) their place insociety differently. The resultant distribution of both malefteMaleand nonscheduled/

scheduled castes disparities inliteracy are highly unevenacross the geographic space of India. There is no denial that the regional context remains vitaland 2 that it transgresses the rural -urbandistinction. It may, however, be argued that such transgression would be minimum in cities. Consequently,the relative deprivation of scheduled castes andfemales in general would not havemuch variation in space. This contention is, of course, based onan expectation that the level of services, motivation and stimulation for diffusion ofliteracy are uni- 2

formly available in urban situations. What is intriguingis that instead ofa more homogeneous social surface and a distinct urban ambience independentof regional constraints, the cities follow the regional patternwhere they are located more closely.

Based on 1981 census data, this paper undertakes a sociogeographicanalysis of female literacy both for nonscheduled and scheduledcaste segments of population in class I cities of 3 India. Their literacy is examined inrelation to literacy levels of corresponding male counterparts. Viewed thus, thesex and caste

disparities that existprovide insights into biases towards females andscheduled castes. In India, these biases have regional variationand seem to very along a north-south dimensions Finally, in order to interpretthe pattern, a number of socioeconomic correlates of female literacy suchas, presence of those communities which foster female literacy or vice-versaand composition of work-force are identified. The relative position of majorlocalities, as far their literacy status is concerned, seems to be essentiallythe same as it has been sincelong and whatever breakthrough is visible has beenbecause of various social movement. They have also been taken Into account inthe explanatory framework.

Background Information

An overview of the geography of literacy shows that both male/femaleand nonscheduled/scheduled casteliteracy vary widelyacross India, the frequency curve for them being highly skewed (Figs. 1 and 2). In every city, maleliteracy is higher than female literacyl the nonscheduled caste femaleliteracy is likewise everywhere higher than scheduled caste female literacy.However, as compared to males, the inter-city variationis greater in female literates for both the groups (Table 1).

4 3

Table 1. Male and female literacy and disparity, 1981

Literacy Mean Coefficient Disparity Highest Lowest value of variation value value

Male 66.70 12.57 84.28 30.21 .198 (Trichur) (Sambhal) Female 48.78 21.28 78.87 18.52 (Trichur) (Sambhal) Nonsche- duled male 68.90 11.98 85.32 30.84 .178 (Trichur) (Sambhal) . Nonschedu- led female 51.58 19.91 80.20 19.28 (Trichur) (Sambhal) Scheduled48.32 24.47 79.76 20.21 male (Alleppey) (Sambhal) .342 Scheduled female 25.56 50.64 69.64 04.62 (Alleppey) (Amroha)

Despite the disparity that exists between male and female literacyrates,

the tno are themselves highly correlated (r .898) indicating a close spatial

covariation of the two rates. This highly significant positivecorrelation between the two rates sustains equally well when the population is further divided

into nonscheduled and scheduled segments (r .889 and .875 respectively, Table

2)..

The high spatial covariation between male and female literacyis not accompanied by identical rates of increase in literacy for boththe sexes. With the increase in male and female literacy, the disparity between the tworeduces 4 (Fig. 3). However, the decrease is more marked if the female literacy increases as is evident from a fairly strong correlation between female literacy and sex disparity (r -.881) as compared to a moderately negativeone with male literacy (r.., -.634).

5 4

Table 2. Correlation Matrix (Na. 218)

X x xii, x X1 2 3 5 X6 x7 x8 X9 X10 X11 1.00

.086 1.00

.118 3 .891 1.00

x4 .169 .892 .898*1.00

x 5 .110 .875* .982 .868* 1.00

x .169 6 .885 * .889* .984 .889* 1.00 X7 .143 4.563 .633* .642 .525* .56e 1.00 * X .150 8 .559 .568 .6917 .4.67 .603r .8751.00

x -.002 -.176 -.156-.204 -.050 -.070 -.200-.2281.00 * X -.037 -.475 -.523 10 -.478** -.593-.552 -.052-.031 -.257 1.0o x -.000 .345 .317 .391** .283 11 .356 .267 .39377-.082-.125 1.00

* p) 0.01 ** P) 0.05 Xi Population of the City x 2Total literacy

X3Male literacy

X4.Female literacy x 5 Nonscheduled castemale literacy x 6 Nonscheduledcaste female literacy x 7 Scheduled caste maleliteracy

X8 Scheduledcaste female literacy X 9. Scheduled caste,population

X10Muslim population

x11Christian population , . 0 5

Sex and Caste Disparity

Sopher in his study of literacy in India concludesthat in terms of literacy women "are indeed a 'depressed class'," This observationis largely consequent upon, along with other variables, the sex disparity in literacywithin scheduled castes and the rest of population being greater thanclass (caste) disparity in literacy within the same sex (Sopher 1980: 168). Asomewhat similarpo- sition is taken by Nuna (1986) when he argues that. it isthe female literacy

.which has suffered themost in the faultyprocess of development.

While it is true that there are desperate gaps between maleand female literacy levels, they both are very significantly correlatedas has been pointed out earlier. Compared to this, the spatial covariation inliteracy between males and females of nonscheduled and scheduled castes is weaker (r.2.525 and .603). Consequently, the sex disparities within these twogroups covary in a more significant manner (r.. .793) relative to covariation in castedisparities in literacy (r s .586). This is not in any way a statisticalartefact, an outcome of the way in which disparities have been formulated, buta social one. What is being demonstrated is the same stronger gender relationamong male and female literates in respective nonscheduled and scheduled castepopulations. As the level of male literacy does not vary much, the maincontributing factor in the sex disparities among castes is the female compOnentof the matrix, i.e., literacy rates for nonscheduled and scheduled caste females.These rates have

. to be fairly closely related in order to result ina highly associated pattern of variation of sex disparity. It can be seen that this associationis supplant- ed by a stronger alliance between male and female componentsof nonscheduled

and scheduled castes. That is tosay, the distinction is between nonscheduled

and scheduled castes as two different social groups. The latter isunderpre-

vileged as a whole in terms oftheir literacy status in citiesof India. 6

The lower rates of urban literacy are thus not peculiar to women only, a contention which is substantiated by observations made by Kundu (1986: 446) where

he notes that, " . . . althoughurbanisation helps in bringing down the disparity in literacy rates between males and females in all segments of Indianpo- pulation . ., such healthy effects are not perceived in case of disparities between the social segments. The disparity between the scheduled caste and the

remaining population, for example, is higher for the urban areas. . ."

Perhaps we cannot view women as a homogeneous group nor can we assume gender-oriented discrimination to prevail. There are several studies which indicate very clearly that the process of development, however we define it, has inadvertently widened the gap between the rich and the poor (Swaminathan 1975).

Women as a part of overall situation also face the consequences albeit in a more contrived manner. To their scheduled caste status is added their status as females making them a step down on the ladder in literacy attainment as Raza and

Aggarwal (1983: 2) put it, "The relative deprivation of women in the field of education is particularly significant because it underlines all other attributes of deprivations. The scheduled caste are deprived, no doubts but the scheduled caste women are more deprived than their men folk." This is not to be takenas contrasting with my earlier argument that scheduled casteson the whole, as underprivileged, are subjugated to a certain kind of treatment asa class. Compared to nonscheduled castes, they are. A further marginality of their female counterparts is related to limitations imposed by Indian society on women in general.

As far relative deprivation of scheduled castes in urban literacy is concerned, it may be because of their restricted access to occupational avenues which are available in cities. In fact, this relationship is seen as somewhat circular, in that the low literacy of scheduled castes hinders their active participation in gainful work and those activities where they can be absorped 7

do not generally requireany literacy level as an essential prerequisite (Raju

1981: 28-9). Consequently,among the migrants, the nonscheduled caste popula-

tion has a relatively higher literacyrate as compared to scheduled castes

(Kundu 1986: 446). Another findingconfirms this observation, i.e., migrants

possessing higher levels of literacy attainment thoughthe pointed reference

is towards male migrants in general (Premi 1985: 46-56).However, given the si-

tuation, it is not very difficult toassume that a major proportion of these

literate migrants consists of nonscheduled caste population.

Geographic Pattern of Sex and Caste Disparity

The discussion of literacy itself isa necessary prelude to the consider-

ation of the disparities between nonscheduled/scheduledas well as male/female

population.

The map showing the distribution of female literacy bringsout two broad

areas of contiguous cities within the same class interval (Fig. 4).The weet

coast from Cujarat right upto the southern tip of Kerala,parts of Tamilnadu

in the south, Punjab, Haryana, and WestBengal in the north are areas of high-

est literacy. The pattern in the northern plainsand and the southern plateau

is uneven. Cities which record lowestfemale literacy are scattered. However,

Uttar Pradesh accounts for the maximum numbersof such cities. In sum, the

geographically peripheral areas in the Indianspace have the concentration of

cities with high female literacy.

An attempt is made later in the discussion to identify the socio-economic

correlates to interpret the observed pattern but itmay be noted in passing

that coastal areas in India have historically beenareas of high literacy. In

.general, the explanation lies in their overseas contacts. Because ofa longer

and a more continuous contact with outside, the west coast is supposed tobe

more literate as compared to the east coast (Gosal 1964: 272-4). As pointed out 8

by Sopher (1980: 136), precisely how outside contactsfoster literacy; by creat-

ing a demand for increased literacy or by enhancing the awareness about theva-

lue of literacy is not clearly stated.

The distribution of sex disparities forma pattern which has an inverse

association with female literacy (Fig. 5). That is, the citieswith high female

literacy are characterised by lower disparitiesbetween male and female literacy

levels, a relationship which has already been broughtto notice. Though the re-

lative position of different regions remainessentially the same, a somewhat

clearer differentiation between north and south begins toappear, especially if

the south-central band covering approximately the formerstate of Hyderabad

(parts of present Maharashtra, north-eastKarnataka and western Andhra Pradesh)

having high sex disparity in literacy is ignored. Theemergence of former Hydera-

bad state as a plateau in an otherwise low surface ofsex disparity in literacy has a historical antecedent (Sopher 1980: 138). This pointhas been further ex-

plored in the subsequent discussion.

Social Movements in India: Some Plausible Explanations

In terms of sex disparity in literacy, Punjab and West Bengal inthe northern plain are exceptions where cities are characterised by very low values.So- pher (1980: 183), in his study of sex disparity in Indian literacyargues that the geographically peripheral localities wheresex disparities in general are low are also marginal in the Indian cultural realm. Hence they representmarked departures from Hindu social norms which customarily places female literacy at a low priority. He cites Assam, Bengal and Punjab as examples where there exists a "low proportion of Brahmans in the population, a simple, somewhat fluid traditional caste structure and a large Muslim minority" and also lowsex disparities in literacy. Despite an initially sound thesis, suchan explanation is

Open to debate.. 10 9

One of the essential components of rigid Indian castesystem is a distinct

scheduled caste presence along witha cleraly defined and mutually exclusive

(from nonscheduled caste population)social boundary for them. By implication,

therefore, these 'marginal'areas should also exhibit a less pronounced struc-

ture of disparities among nonscheduled andscheduled castes. However,no such

pattern is visible. In fact, disparitieshave a distinctly demostrated north-

south dimension (Fig. 6). Haryana. Punjaband West Bengal, the spatiallymar-

ginal states share with Bihar, Rajasthan andUttar Pradesh, a scenario where

disparities in literacy between castesare maximum. Thus, in this regard, there

is no deviation of the marginal states from the centrally located states inthe

northern plain. Why this should beso is an intriguing question.

There are several other discordant local patterns whichnecessitate a fur-

ther probe. As pointed out earlier, therelative deprivation is more pronounced

between nonscheduled and scheduled segmentsof population as compared to male

and female components. However, for theformer Hyderabad state this relation-

ship does not seem to hold. Interestinglyenough, this region is characterised

by higher values for sex disparity associatedwith lower caste disparPles. That

is, the distinction between maleand female literacy levels ismore marked than

the disparities between nonscheduled andscheduled caste population,a situa-

tion which is much at variance with all Indialevel.

At this point, the search for explanationmust turn to investigation of social movements in India whichare critical for upliftment of women and/or scheduled caste. However, letme deviate from the main discussion in order to bring in another dimension which ultimatelylinks with the contemporary pattern

*of female literacy.

In India, despite a planned intervention for diffusionof literacy, the relative position of major regions (in terms of female literacy)is basically the it 10

same as it has been since theturn of the century. The urban literacy IAno ex- ception and the cities which record high levelsof female literacyare located in those areas which have been above the nationalaverage since 1901. Similarly,

cities with low ratesof female literacy are located in those regions whichhave always been characterised by low female literacy.Superimposition of amap of female literacy on another map showing the consistency thereinelucidate the his-

toricity of the phenomenamost succinctly (Fig. 7).

As stated earlier, if one IL to obtain a clearer outlineof social linea- ments that have constrained Indian women's as wellas scheduled castle access to literacy ina even area, the significance of social movements together with their ideological positionshave to be properly interpreted.

In the present analysis, Haryana, Punjab and West Bengalemerge as areas with very low to low sex disparities in literacy. Itmay be recalled that it

was during the second half of the nineteenth century that theArya Samaj arose in Punjab and its surroundings as a response to conversion to Christianity,nd Islam among outcastes. It attempted to rectify thedefects of rigidity within Hinduism through questioning the existing bases of castesand all injustice and human iastage it produced. It was also a movement directed againstthe British. Inevitably, the Hindu identity was to be pushed; existence of castestructure was inherent to it but it was the Vedic, notion of foutvarnas where casts mem- bership was not ascriptive by birth but by the kind of lifeone led. However, it was not a movement to elevate the "untouchables,"thatis, the scheduled castes and they remained, by and large, in theperiphery even in thenew sch- me of things. Although those who had convertedto other religions welere- claimed through Shuddhi or purification, their social status remainedas pro- blematic as ever ( (Heimsath 1963;113 -30j Jones 1979: 7-11: Parvathamma 1983:

104-5). What is important to make note of is that educaZion ofwomen was central 21

Women were cosidered equalto men. Capable to achieve emancipation, theywere to be accorded rights commensurate with theirabilities (Heimsath 1964:120).

The parallel BrahmoSamej movement in 14=.47../ alec did nct remilateRinds- Ism and it was notdirected at bringing about social equalityamong different segment of society.However, the movement can be "credited with establishinga major objective of allIndian social reform movements, the socialfreedom and cultural advancement of Hindu women (Heimsath 19641 91). Other social reforms of mid-century Bengalwere also closely linked with issues related towomen such as, widow remarriage, abolition of polygamy and aboveall prohibition of, Sat'. (Ibid: 74-97;Jordens 1975).

If indeed the facts relating to the historicityof uneven pattern of fe-

male literacy and itssustenance through decades is taken as established,then the ,small sex disparitiesin literacy in Bengal, Punjab and itsneighborhood may well

be understood within theframework of social reforms so articulated in favorof women.

The case of Kerala needs no elaboration an xhe circumstanceswhich fostered female literacy thereaxe too well known to obviate the need for detailedtreat- ment. It may, however, benoted that the high literacy in femalesassociated with a very low sex disparity inKerala is essentially attributed to a sustainedhis- tory of traditional learning together with an early start in Westerneducation, both private and under princely patronage (Sopher1980: 137). While the early reform movements, such as theones outlined above,were not concerned withscheduled castes mr ee, movementsarose from within the back- ward sectionswith a different, a more radical, aggressive, andmilitant which were clearly directedagainst upper castes and classes (Rao 1979: 10).One of the earliest movementswas that of Waddara in Karnataka. Subsequentupon their sedentarisation, theemergence of higher aspirations , and educational attain-

1 12

ment, the Waddars started claiming higher status through appropriate mythsand

this claim provided the basic ideologyfor their movement (Bhat 1978: 169-89;

Rao 1979: xvi).5

Another regional movement of relevance inthe present analysis is theone formulated by Sri Narayana Guru Swamy among the toddy-tappersIzhavas, a numeri-

cally strong group in Kerala. A detailed discussion of the socialreforms is not within the scope of this papers It suffices to note that parity ineducational opportunities with others was very much a part of the movement to raisethe so-

cial status of Izhavas (Rao1979: 30-1).

Maharashtra is characterised bya series of social movements essentially

directed against the supremacy of a few high caste groups. In 1873,Phule be-

gan his Satyashodhak (Search for Truth) Samaj;the aim was to save the "lower 'castes from the hypocritical Brahmins and their opportunisticscriptures." 7 As stated by Heimsath, the Samaj later became the nucleus ofa movement in

Maharashtra which was to have profoundreverberations on social and political

life in the 20th century (1964: 103). Later it was under the leadershipof Dr. Ambedkar that the Mahars of Maharashtra organised themselves witha view to fight against their scheduled caste status. Fiske (1972: 119)provides information pertaining to section of Mahars in different districts inMaharashtra who adopted Buddhism. The close correspondence between areas with highBuddhist

population and low caste disparityin literacy is quite noteworthy.

Tamilnadu is an intriguingcase. It is characterised by higher values for

both'sex and castedisparities indicating perhapsa socially'less rebellious

'society. However, as pointed out by Heimsath(1964: 111), itwas due to a very

strog dominance of the Brahman castes. A . structure, undisrupted by frequent Mus-

lim and Maratha influencesas compared to northern India, showed no signs then of

brealang apart under any non-Brahanpressures. The Brahman themselves could not

.14 13

possibly advocateany fundamental social change without at thesame time seeming to undermine theirhierarchical supremacy.

Other Considerations

So far the analysis is essentially confined tothe female and scheduled

caste components ofpopulation. The scheduled castes, by virtue of theirso- cially and economicallydeprived status, are consistently found to haveasso-

ciation with lower literatylevels than the rest of the population. Same istrue about women in general.Any amelioration in these relationships seem tohave strong historical underpinnings. However, thereare several other communities

such as Muslims andChristians whose presence in the population affectlit-, racy. For example, Muslimshave a negative association with literacy levelsas observed at various levels (Krishan and Shyam 19743 796; Sopher1980s 162). Con- versely, the share of Christians in the population tendsto raise literacy. Further, it may be argued that in theprocess of transition in social ethos which increasingly understands the value ofeducation of women, level of development is of great significance. Inorder to gauge this,a somewhat arbitrary measure, that is, the percentage of maleworkers in nonagricultural

occupation is takenas surrogate.

Finally, the effect of size of settlementon female literacy is evaluated. At a size-specific level,literacy does seem to increase accompanied bya decrease in sex disparity (Table 3

The result of stepwise regression of female literacyagainst scheduled caste population, Muslim, and Christian population, malenonagricultural workers, and 'size of the city is presented in Table 4. The totalamount of variation accounted 'fOr is 57 percent.Three correlations remain highly significant.Female literacy increases as the Christianproportion of the population rises. On the otherhand, the Muslims andthescheduled castes tend to depress the level of femaleliteracy. 15 14

The statistical explanation thus merely confirms whathas already been recognised. Although there is a persistent although irregular increasein female literacy with city size, the relationship does not hold when the Christian,Muslim and scheduled caste populationenter the equation.

Table 3. Male and female literacyby settlement size, 1981

City size Male Female Nonsche. Nonsche. fe- Sche. maleSche. literacy literacy male lit. male lit lit. female lit.

i,000,000 + 69.66 53.93 71.65 56.80 53.82 31.63 500,000 to 999,999 68.22 51.55 70.16 54.21 53.56 30.89 200,000 to 499,999 66.48 48.44 68.59 51.26 48.24 24.85 100,000 to 199,999 66.13 47.72 68.46 50.55 46.46 23.95

Similarly, the male nonagricultural workers do not haveany significant bear- ing upon female literacy.

Table 4. Stepwise regression of female literacy on selectedvariables

Dependent Percent of variation explained Independent Variable Variable

Percent of total Popu- Female literacy lation

Christian Population 28.00(+) Muslim Population 41.80(-) Scheduled caste Popu- lation 52.90- Male Non-primary Workers Size of the city 55.5 + 57.0 +

Notes.The mathematical sign in parentheses indicate the slope of theb-coefficient. 1 15

Conclusion

Despite the apparent confusion in detail and lessthan satisfactory data

base (because the percentage of literates is calculatedout of total populat-

ion which includes the age-group 0-4 also), certainbroad patterns emerge whereby the distinction between the north and the south is reflectedin the pattern of female literacy. Instead of having a Pan-Indian urban character independent of regional constraints, the cities follow the regional pattern of theirlo- cality more closely. Strikingly, the relative position of majorregions where the cities are located seems to be essentially thesame as it has been since the turn of the century. The historicity of the phenomena thus overwhelm the planned efforts to raise the female literacy even in the urban context.

In India, the women and the scheduled castes have traditionally been characterised by low levels of literacy. However, in the present analysis, the distin- btion is more strongly marked between nonscheduled and scheduledcastes as two different groups rather than the male and female components of individualcastes.

That is, the caste disparity is-greater than the sex disparity in literacy.This relationship weakens in those regions where social reforms directed atimproving the condition of scheduled castes have been important.

Despite of their marginality in terms of literacy attainment, the levels of female literacy are very closely related with their male counterparts for both nonscheduled and scheduled caste women. As such, theymay perhaps not be viewed as a homogeneous body but as a part of larger societal context,a propo- sion which gets amply substantiated in the present' analysis. NOTES

1. The term "scheduled" refers to specificationon a constitutional "schedule" of castes deemed to have been historically "underprivileged," "deprived,"or in the terminology used in earlier Indian censuses, "depressed."The list remains substantially the same as originally'prepared by the British in1935. 2. An urban agglomeration in the Indian census constitutes: (a)a city or town with contiguous outgrowth (s), the outgrowth being outside thestatutory li- mits but falling within the boundaries of the adjoining villageor villages; (b) two or more adjoining towns with their outgrowth(s);or (c) a city with one or more adjoining towns with theiroutgrowths all of which forma continuous spread. A city is: (a)all statutory settlements witha municipal cor- poration, municipal board, cantonment board or notifiedare etc; (b) a minimum population of 100,000 people (c) 75%population in non-primary occupation and a density of population of atleast 400 per sq. km.

3. The nonscheduled caste populationhere consists of variousgroups living under a wide range of social andeconomic conditions but the data available in the census do not allowa further division to be made.

4. Disparity between twogroups, of which different proportionspossess a par- ticular property (in thiscase urban literacy) is here measured by Sopher's disparity index (1960)as modified by Kundu (1986). Nonscheduled caste/scheduled caste disparity is calculatedby'converting the literacy rates ofboth the groups and also for male andfemale components within the groups into lo- gits and subtracting the scheduled caste values from the nonscheduledcaste values; subtracting the values for femaleliteracy from the values for male literacy yields the male/female disparityin urban literacy. Thepresump- tion is that the behavior of the nonscheduledcaste and the males, as the case may be, is more represtative of a normal situation than thebehavior of the scheduled castes and the females.Therefore, the first group is taken first in the disparity pair.

5. Bhat provides a graphic account of the movementamong Waddars who constitute a significant portion of scheduled castes in Karnataka.The latest division for individual scheduled caste groups is notavailable.

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Swaminathan, M. 1975 'And Miles to Go" Social Change (Mar.-June): 21-26.

AINNIIMM1111m

1 .`". ko. toe e I ol 1 *62 .1 INDIA JAMMU AND KASHMIRk ...../1.,...... , qa. ill_ 409,_, 9140 HIMACHAL) PUNJAB4:0136 \ PRADE5.._}kH 8;.-L.1111133113(1;tke,20.S orta 137 HARYANA r *168 )141'\ °51/203' 4°,111 i9147 1: 60/ .... 579 41, '' 201 r.,,,..1.(010 3 1-550 lip, ? 020 56194177 94/6..INACHAL °59 421' 187 0196 PRADESH 54 i% 08 ..4% 1 "'s 53*86 179 198 11 P1 146 V-1 0SIKKIM ....e. "V *175 428 "'es." ftl '''. ,1/ 9151 14193 199 \ 40" RAJASTHAN 144, '?*124* 11393 192 *% A ;SAH / $ 9186 0° 101.1 11 ,142 148 1134-161 UTTAR 10182 .ei.-,... NAGALAND °191 27 36 /mile : -'92 % PRADESH 26 31 . 149 34 19 1 C,-'rr '202 176 *199 "1 6 MEGHALAYA ) 4.19 0 35 33 2`6 = 409091? C 145 203 "-.3 23 ( 0150 r" 1-- -1.--;II-1,1,,,*135 29* Z4 "MANIPUR . 1 BIHAR 0% TRIP : . IL. 152 2.2 2.8p.1"63 -. .17)!: 044 100 21/. 1,0 1 9°8 "'I 696 32. MIZORAM GUJARAT C 2°5°208..1;210 994 1. 250 " 490 3j 101 B8 30 2k3. 920207% 42 93 MADHYA PRADESH Li 40 48 89 r"--13--,,,C."2.156204 W. BENGAL .45 *46 95 i *134 9 38 l:: 909° r 042 9".3i. 104 Ite, CB'? °97 ; ORISSA 94 110 '107 *103 *M *131 129 MAHARASHTRA 109( 132. 120 0105 121 *117 130 119,..j ...-n r--7 315 9106*114 C / : JiN-r 9126 \....( 1162?4,12 "t e f 't,er.. 142 08122102 , / 20 ,--/-."-- 13 112° *Q.t./2n 14 123 I.- 0 1.. *2 115'3 6 .17 i ' 6. *1 f- e ANDHRA 11 71 7813 PRADESH 15 ,../Y64 66 j 72 S. 99 65:`*1 1.3)4 11.... 2 11 066 1..v.reN,--.-1. 16 KARNATAKA79 239), .75 63 r-b172 741164*'157 076 168 218 B2 71 8 KERALA 81 153 167 TAMIL NADU *81154 *156 .166 1436,1155 18 83 161 80 163 25i 10 For identification of cities see Appendix I . 12

26 Appendix I

List of Cities included in theAnalysis

Andhra Pradesh 46. Rajkot Madhya Pradesh 47. Surat 1. Adoni 48. Vadodara 88 Bhopal 2. Anantapur 49. Wadhwan 89. Bilaspur 3. Bheemavaram 90. Burhanpur 4. Cuddapah blast. 91. Durg -- Bhilai 5. Eluru ,92. Gwalior. 6. Guntur 50. Ambala (MC) 93. Indore 7. Hyderabad 51. Ambala (UA) 94. Jabalpur 8. Kakinada 52. Bhiwani 95. Khandwa 9. Kurnool 53. Faridabad 96. Murwara 10. Machilipatnam 54. Gurgaon 97. Raipur 11. Nellore 55. Hisar 98. Ratlam 12. Nizamabad 56. Karnal 99. Rewa 13. Proddatur 57. Panipat 100. Sagar 14. Rajahmundry 58. Rohtak' 101. Ujjain 15. Tenali 59. Sonipat 16. Tirupati 60. Yamunanagar Maharashtra 17. Vijaywada 18. Vishakapatnam Jammu & Kashmir 102. Ahmadnagar 19. Vizianagaram 103. Akola 20. Warangal 61. Jammu 104. Amravati 62. Srinagar 105. Aurangabad Bihar 106. Bhiwandi Karnataka 107. Bhusawal 21. Arrah 108. Bombay 22. Bermo 63. Bangalore 109. Chandrapur 23. Bhagalpur 64. Belgaum 110. Dhule 24. Bihar 65. Bellary 111. Gondiya 25. Bokaro 66. Bhadravati 112. Ichalkaranji 26. Chapra 67. Bijapur 113. Jalgaon 27. Darbhanga 68. Davanagere 114. Jalna 28, Dhanbad 69. Gadag-Beligere 115. Kolhapur 29, Gaya 70. Gulbarga 116. Latur 30., Jamshedpur 71. Hospet 117. Malegaon 31. Katihar 72. Hubli-Dharwad 118. Nagpur 32. Ranch/ 73. Kolar 119. Handed 33. Munger 74. Mandya 120. Nasik 34. Muzaffernagar 75. Mangalore 121. Parbhani 35. Patna 76. Mysore 122. Pune 36. Purnia 77. Shimoga 123. Sangli 78. Raichur 124. Solapur ajarat 79. Tumkur 125. Thane 126. Ulhasnagar 37. Ahmadabad Kerala 38. Bharuch Manipur 39. Bhavnagar 80. Alleppey 40. aamnagar 81. Calicut 127. Imphal 41. Junagadh 82. Cannanore Nadiad 83. Cochin Meghalaya 43. Naysari 84. Palghat 44. Patan 85. quilon 128. Shillong 45. Porbunder 86. Trichur 87. Triyandrum 21 Orissa 171. Valparai 2150 Raniganj 172. Vellore 129. Bhubaneshwar Union Territories 130. Brahmapur Tripura 131. Cuttack 216. Chandigarh 132. Puri 173. Agartala 217. Delhi 133. Raurkela 218. Pondicherry 134. Sambalpur Uttar Pradesh

1:12.1.1.1131). 174.Agra 175.Aligaxh 135. Amritsar 176.Allahabad 136. Batala 177.Amroha 137. Bathinda 178.Bareilly 138. Jalandhar 179.BulandAahr 1;9. Ludhiana 180.Dehra Dun 140. Pathankot 181.Etawah 141. Patiala 182.Faridabad 183.Farrukhabad Rajasthan 184.Firozabad 185.Ghaziabad 142, Ajmer 186.Gorak4ur 143. Alwar 187.Hapur 144. Bharatpur 188.Hardwar 145. Bhilwara 189.Jaunpur 146. Bikaner 190.Jhansi 147. Ganganagar 191.Kanpur 148. Jaipur 192.Lucknow 149. Jodhpur 193.Mathura 150. Kota 194.Meerut 151. Sikar 195.Mirzapur 152. Udaipur 196.Moradabad 197.Muzaffarnagar Tamilnadu 198.Rampur 199.Shahjahanpur 153. Cuddalore 200.Saharanpur 154. Coimbatore 201.Sambhal 155. Dindigul 202.Sitapur 156. Erode 203.Varanasi 157. Kanchipurarn 158. Kararikkudi West Bengal 159. Kumbakonam 160. Madras 204. Asansol 161. Madurai 205. Baharampur 162. Nagercoil 206. Balurghat 163. Pollachi 207. Bardhaman 164. Rajapalaiyam 208. Calcutta 165. Salem 209. Durgapur 166. Thanjavur 210. Habra 167. Tiruchchirappalli 211. Kharagpur 168. Tirunelveli 212. Nabadwip 169. Tiruppur 213. Ondal 170. Tuticorin 214. Siliguri 22 i

60--

Male Literacy

50- Female Literacy

40-

In cu 30- 6

20-

10-

0 10 15 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Literacy Rate( 7.)

Fig. 1:MALE AND FEMALE LITERACY IN CLASS-ICITIES,1981 ,0( 23 2,1 50

Non-Scheduled Caste 40 Female Literacy

Scheduled Caste Female Literacy

N30-

20-

10-

0 411r4F/141rIIIM 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Literacy Rate(%)

Fig. 2 :NON-SCHEDULED CASTE AND SCHEDULEDCASTE FEMALE LITERACY IN CLASS-ICITIES,1981

N2j 2t3 151 .4-

177. e toe e 0 0.4, 0 2010 fie 0 0 0 198 l: O 0 00000 0el. el'o 5, 00 e 0.

05 0., so 173.

196 8.1 1462 80 82. '83 86' '87 84

0 20 30 50 do 70 80 90 L iter a c y(%) 0'27 Fig. 3 : LEVEL AND SEX DISPARITYIN LITERACYIN CLASS -I CITIES, 1981 23 Lftt.11. ," 1-.1" INDIA

P1.1, --N.A0:5 FEMALE LITERACY IN CLASS-ICITIES,1981 %14t4 $ r i ^4% . r4.1-1 tole 1 > 1-* . (eb--- 1 f -1--, t-3 . ° 1 \ -ie0 i, 01.....: kis-1,( e ., C.1 CI ..:4**-`" 1 % S4 4,. IV. 1 i... °L.! 0 0. ,.) .".",,.14 ' I 1 e -.) 0 4 ....7-is , 0 C. 41 <, ...-c0 e A . ., , ... 1...... ?iil i 40 7:3 / :-.-...: 1."..r tt, .fr ),...... r, ..-1,..-.q ( .04.. . ----. .., ; .% -1 ,. : ,..-., .. ,,-...., ." lig...4 ....- tis.,1, ..C..v 0 -,,, ei 0 .:--, 4, cv .1) %, I

0 411'N 4, 0),....-I: 4 0 I r . :2 ....,,eLi - lit ', ,..,' ; fr 0 e L . r )-

4P 7. 0 41i1 $ ..-.:::i . -r,...... 0 : ;f .. if '.1.. . 5 IS I._ ify ,:.1".... '1...Jr!..--0 LITERACY IVO ,". 0 '0 i 0 0®° 18to34 Very Low 0 y 0 35to45 Low 45 to55 Medium 0 55to60 High 6:1; 60to80 Very High

tik EP. )/

Fig. 4

2 i."4. 1..1..r.,...1 Z, 1 ti irl t INDIA k (.. '4%9. SEX DISPARITY IN LITERACY ....)...; Ifv.. IN CLASS-I CITIES,1981 e.i..\f A. of -.) % ...... f .,,. h. > L. 0 t' ! i , le.4/03 ,.., 0-4.41 0 'N. V..' ). i 0 ..e% ty-, e /fr ' l'c't...,...,.....,...:11.t% ,,,,.. -.....- -:# . (a. 0 r. I. 4i 0 j'.1.. ...,.,-%,:Pe' : 0 0(7.) ,e V.b \ rr ) 1 ,if-A-r-b-t...,--,. e f e ri 7 ...... 1 i ri t-"-s.,.: , , 1 ..- i 0 G, _ ... f * ® ® ill 0. C IN Abe C.." -5 0 -, w ''. i V4'.0i 00 : a 5) ris-40---.:\ 1'1.0, L,\--,... 1 e cr 1---;,_.....--. ...)- erf0*On --1 1 w e C 1 r" 0 0 5 r---.. .- --;-.) oee :lb "'s.., .., ivS 0 ® 0,./1 01 f"j 60,,...... ii'. f \ 0 140 Aill 0 9 0 04DM MALE / FEMALE DISPARITY A....7 ..-v 05 to 15Very Low ,---,_/,,.. .15 to 20 Low .,_i,: 0 e , 020 to .25 Medium N. t'l a .s41...... --, 0 9.25 to 40 High 0 0 . 0 l. ,.. ) Se

Fig. 5

30 rra".6.% 0%, awk .00. NI .4.1 /. INDIA i I. CASTE DISPARITY IN FEMALE LITERACY l' -,41) IN CLASS-I CITIES,1961

....,...... /1.1 :Am., /49--Cv : eei ri ,. : l s" 1 00 L /. -',P . ..% e: :..,,'1 "..N. ., e o ...v....a 1.1 P--..i0 i 0 o ,,...... 1 .4 s. o ,-. 0 1 ...... , .!--; ) ; i. - ,-... :.--_,,.., fii 0 ,-) .1%.% Arts:v../ 3,....1)--",, :-:,) V) 0 vst . s 11, Ps ..4161.. it...... s! e % 0 0 ..) w ... , 0 .f....r..01,fil:to_ , 0 ..., ...... , . rti. SI ,.,

1 s..) \ 9 a 0t c (0 ' a :0 - ./ iv% ---i *.A.J.." o ,ri c' .7:-..,-. { 0.., ; . 't 0 p; 0,90, Non Scheduled CasteFemale / Scheduled Caste FemaleDisparity 0- 03 to .25 VeryLow 41.1 . 25to 40 Low ; o 40to .60 Medium :I*0 e 0 Above .60 High

F i g 6 INDIA FEMALE LITERACY IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE 1901 -1981

LITERACY (V) Isto 34 Very Low O35 to 45 Low 45 tO SS faedium SS to 60 High 0.11(4Mtito0,7%A*00:t.c16NN21,44WOOCCV 40 60 to 79 Very High

FEMALE LITERACY

Above Rational Average Since 1901 N riBelow fiation1 Average upto 1941 Above national Average Since. 1951

FilBelOw Rational Average Smce 1901

Excluded from Analysts

ROTE The map showirg consistency pattern me. female literacy Is Alter Sheet Cnand nuna (1966) Spread of Female Literacy In Incbt 1901-1981, p.11. Rational institule of Educational Planning and Administralmn. NewDeth%

Fig. 7