ZENITH International Journal of Business Economics & Management Research

Education helps in improving the capability of an individual and also facilitates the socialization process by shaping his personal and collective identity. Hence, the Government of India aims at achieving 100% literacy rate. There are several causes of illiteracy in India. This paper is based on the secondary data collected mainly from the Census of India and Economic Survey. The main objectives of this paper are: to examine the differences in male and female literacy rates, rural and urban literacy rates and also to study the State wise differences in literacy rates in India. The paper also discusses the various causes of low level of literacy prevailing in India and suggests measures to speed up the literacy rate in the country.