Literacy rate stands at 79.70, women ahead of men, reveals Bihar caste survey

Bihar Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudary has revealed the overall literacy rate in the state. According to Bihar Caste Survey, literacy rate in Bihar stands at 79.70 per cent. Women literacy rate has come out to be higher than men’s. For every 1000 males, there are 953 females who are literate, Chaudary told the Assembly.

The survey further reveals that only 22.67 percent of respondents had studied till class 5, but this increases to 24.31 percent for people from Scheduled Castes and 24.65 percent for those from extremely Backward classes. Among the general category, it stands at 17,45 percent.

Whereas 5.67 per cent of the people belonging from scheduled caste category have completed schooling (Class 11 and 12). A marginal improvement to nine per cent has been witnessed for all respondents.

Since Bihar’s August survey , the need for a nation-wide caste census has gained steam. According to NDTV, the central government BJP has shown resistance towards this demand. However, Union Minister Amit Shah indicated a turnabout in that policy this week, claiming that the party had never opposed the exercise, but will carry out a survey after due diligence.