Rajasthan: Blame conservative mindset for low rural female literacy, say experts

JAIPUR: With almost 50% women in Rajasthan unable to read and write, the tall claims of the state being an education hub with the highest number of women universities and colleges have fallen flat. The significant gap of 23% in literacy levels among males and females further question the discrimination against women. We bring to you a five-part series on gender inequality in the desert state. Read on…
Thinly populated areas, conservative mindset, poor economic conditions and failing policies are reasons behind the low literacy rate among women in the rural areas of the state, say experts.
Formed in 1950, Rajasthan had the worst literacy rate of 8.5% in 1951 in the country. Even after 70 years, the state continues to lead the chart from the bottom with the worst literacy rate among its female population. According to a recent study conducted by the National Statistical Organisation on the survey report, Household Social Consumption (July 2017 to June 2018), almost every second woman in Rajasthan’s villages cannot read, write or perform simple calculations. On the contrary, the male literacy rate in the state is more than 80.8%, which is just 4% lower than the country’s overall literacy rate.

Taboos linked to women’s education:
The gender gap has a lot to do with the geography of the state. Desert covers more than 60% of the state, including nine districts. Hence, these areas are less accessible and are pulling the literacy rate down. “The sparsely populated areas combined with conservative mindset have deterred all social movements related to literacy programmes. Stories of oppression against women by invaders constitute a huge part of the oral history among the rural communities. This has turned practices which lead to the exposure of women to strangers into taboos,” said Rashmi Jain, head of the sociology department at Rajasthan University.
According to the 2011 Census, Jaisalmer, Jalore and Sirohi have female literacy rates below 40%, while Kota, Jaipur and Jhunjhunu have more than 60% female literacy rates. Also, several villages in Mewat region have recorded less than 5% literacy rate among females in the 2011 Census.
Effect on workforce:
The literacy rate corresponds to poor sex ratio, low per capita income, poverty, poor enrollments in institutes and sustaining orthodoxy. The biggest casualty of the situation is the overall poor workforce in the state. The demographic and statistics wing of the state government said barely 12% of females were engaged in economic activities in urban areas, while 35.1% women were earning in the rural areas, which accounted for a total workforce population of 43.6%. However, Jhunjhunu with 75% rural population is an exception to come in the league of the top three districts. Jaipur and Kota have the highest density of schools and colleges per lakh population giving its populous upper edge in literacy over other worst-performing districts.
Failing policies:
KB Kothari, former policy and planner at the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), recalled that slight growth in the literacy rate continued in the country till 1991. “Thereafter, the union government along with state governments began tailormade literacy programmes to suit the social dynamics of the respective states with the help of international agencies,” said Kothari. Almost all literacy programmes in the state have failed to achieve their targets due to poor infrastructure, lack of accessibility, high pupilteacher’s ratio, overcrowded classrooms and declining funds for basic literacy programmes.