Inter-State analysis of factors affecting women literacy in India

Women education is crucial for socio-economic development of any society. There are many obstacles in the way of universal education in India in general and especially in the case of women. For women, the obstructive forces tend to get magnified by the prevailing social barriers, orthodox beliefs and dogmatic behaviour. Girls are generally treated as liability by parents and hence there are lesser incentives for investment in female education. Such behaviour results in lower school enrolment rates and high dropout rates in case of girls. Concerted efforts are being put by Government for raising female literacy but there are high inter-state variations of adult females literacy rates in India. This study attempts to quantify the impact of important measurable determinants of women literacy in Indian states. The explanatory variables included in the analysis are Public Expenditure on Education, Female Workforce Participation Rate (FWPR), Per Capita Net State Domestic Product (PCNSDP) at Current Prices 2004–05, Total Fertility Rate and Female Adult Literacy Rate.