Literacy rates of Scheduled Tribes far below national average, says parliamentary panel

New Delhi: Despite government efforts to promote education among the Scheduled Tribes (STs), their literacy rates as compared to the national average have remained low, a Parliamentary Committee has said this week. [caption id=“attachment_2154747” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The literacy rate as per Census 2011 is 73 percent but for STs is 59 percent only. The House panel also flagged the female literacy rate, saying it is also lower as compared to the national average. “The overall literacy gap amongst the various groups and STs has come down from 19.77 percent in 1961 to 14.03 percent in 2011, a scrutiny of state-wise literacy data reveals that in most of the north eastern states like Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland, STs are at par with the general population. “While in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, which have sizeable ST population in remote areas, the literacy gap is as high as 18 to 26 per cent,” the committee has noted. It has also exhorted the government to view the large disparity in literacy rates of STs in these states, which have lagged in almost all socio-economic parameters, and promote educational development for STs on a “mission mode”. The panel also stated that it was unhappy with the fact that the Ministry of Tribal Affairs till date does not have the complete data about the total number of Ashram schools in states and UTs, as according to them the requisite information is awaited from some of the states. Keeping in view the “sub-standard food and bad quality” of personal care products being provided to the ST students in the Ashram schools, the committee has recommended that the ministry should ask all the state governments to take such complaints seriously and conduct appropriate inquiries in this regard and also ensure strict compliance of the standards laid down under the Right to Eduction Act (RTE). According to the guidelines, SFDA will also provide material for fencing, organic manure and train youth from MGNREGA households for forest conservation and other related activities. Under MGNREGA, all wages will be met as a 100 percent central grant and the material component will be shared on 75:25 ratio between the Centre and state governments. While under the Green India Mission, the government will provide 90 percent funds for implementing the scheme in northeast and special category states while 75 percent for rest of India. Last year, the Environment Ministry was pulled up by a parliamentary panel for failing to effectively implement the Rs 3,044 crore national afforestation programme that was launched in 2002. The panel also found that India’s forest cover had decreased by 367 sq km between 2009 and 2011. PTI