Over 1 crore Illiterate People in Odisha: Education Minister

Bhubaneswar, Aug 28: More than one crore people in Odisha are illiterate, School and Mass Education Minister Debi Prasad Mishra said on Thursday replying to a question of BJP MLA Dilip Ray.

According to the 2011 census, Odisha has a total population of about 4.2 crore. The Minister told the assembly that 1.01 crore people — comprising 32.72 lakh males and 69.27 lakh females — were illiterate in Odisha.

About 28.96 lakh Scheduled Caste people and 53.73 lakh Scheduled Tribe people were illiterate, who accounted for about 81 percent of the total illiterate people in the state, the minister added. The state government has targeted providing education to about 27.77 lakh women of 19 districts under the ‘Saakshar Bharat Yojana’ by March 2017, he said.