Literacy rate for STs improved from 47.1% in 2001 to 59% in 2011: Census

The population of Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the country, according to Census 2011, is 104.49 million. STs constitute 8.6 per cent of the country’s total population and 11.3 per cent of the total rural population.

The population of ST males is 52.5 million and ST females 52 million.

The decadal growth of ST population in 2011, compared with 2001, reveals that the ST female population growth rate (25 per cent) is higher than the ST male population growth rate (23 per cent).

The sex ratio with reference to STs is 990 — this is higher than the national average of 943. Also, the ST sex ratio improved from 978 females per 1,000 males in 2001 to 990 in 2011.

Goa, Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh have shown a high ST sex ratio, while Jammu & Kashmir the lowest at 924 in 2011.

According to the Census figures, the literacy rate for STs in India improved from 47.1 per cent in 2001 to 59 per cent in 2011. 

The literacy rate for the total population increased from 64.8 per cent in 2001 to 73 per cent in 2011. There is a gap of about 14 percentage points in the literacy rate of STs, compared to the all-India literacy rate.

Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, and Kerala have shown a gap of more than 18 percentage points  in literacy rate of STs, in comparison with the total population during 2011. However, all states registered a decline in literacy rate between 2001 and 2011.

Sources: 2011 Census, Ministry of Tribal Affairs Annual Report 2021-22