SPATIO-TEMPORAL TREND IN LITERACY LEVELS IN PALGHAR DISTRICT

The significance of literacy lies in reading and writing effectively with acquiring the basic math skills to carry out the normal and simple transactions and communication required by an individual in any society. Literacy is critical to economic development that is associated with an individual and community wellbeing in any nation. Literacy is one of the most importance skills when it comes to our personal growth, culture and development. It is one of the major indicator of changing economy and society. Literacy helps in acquiring skills that promotes development and confidence in individual. In the era of globalization where most of the transactions and working are becoming highly digitalized literacy forms the basic to every individual and organization. Thus literacy is one of the most challenging aspects of human life, society and nation in the contemporary era of a digitized world. Keeping this aspect in view the present study focuses on the status of literacy levels in the newly formed Palghar district of Maharashtra state which is largely dominated by tribal population. The present work is an attempt to study spatio-temporal trend in literacy levels at taluka level in Palghar district based on census data of India from 1991 to 2011.The male- female literacy levels has been worked out. The total literacy rate of Palghar district was 66.65% percent and male and female literacy rates is 72.23 % and is 59 % respectively in 2011. Gender gap in literacy reveals lower gap in urbanized tehsils having lower concentration of scheduled tribe population while it is high in rural tehsils with concentration of scheduled tribe population in Palghar district.