Literacy is one of the prime indicators to measure human development index at international, national and regional levels. According to census of India, a person who can both read and write with understanding in any languages is taken as literate. In India, the literacy rate is calculated excluding 0-6 age group of population. Literacy rate of the population is defined as the percentage of literates in the age group seven years and above. For different age groups the percentage of literates in that age group gives the literacy rate. Indian Literacy is characterized with sharp differences in between the male and female, rural and urban areas and various population subgroups.

The present study is based on Secondary source data. The study was conducted taluk wise in Mysore district. Secondary source of information collected from District Census Handbook of Mysore District. The comparisons are summarized here for two period’s i.e. 2001 and 2011. The collected information has been compiled and put in the form of maps, graphs, and tables for further analysis. The base Maps are prepared using Arc GIS software techniques. Data is analyzed though simple quantitative techniques like percentage.

Mysore District is an Administrative District lies in the southern part of Karnataka state, India. Mysore district is located between latitude 11°45' to 12°40' N and longitude 75°57' to 77°15' E. The District spreads across an area of 6854 sq.km constituting 3.5% of the state’s total geographical area and is situated in Southern Karnataka. It holds the 6^th place in the state in terms of the area with Population of Mysore District density was at 385 peoples per square kms. Totally, Mysore district Consists of 7 taluks, such as, H.D.kote, Hunsur, K.R.Nagar, Mysore, Nanjangud, Periyapatna and T.Narsipura with 33 hoblies, 235 Grama Panchayaths, 9 towns 3 Municipalities and Mysore City is governed by Mysore City Corporation. District consists of 1340 villages, out of which 1216 are inhabited and 124 are uninhabited villages. According to the Census of 2011 Mysore District had a population about 30, 01,127 lakhs of which male were 1,511,600 and 1,489,527 respectively making it third largest district in Karnataka.

Figure 1

Literacy is one of the important aspects of development of population in any region. Literacy for all children above 6 years is still an ever-moving target. The present study attempts to analyze the Spatio-Temporal trend in Literacy rate of Mysore District during 2001 & 2011. The Mysore District consists of seven taluks, such as, H.D.Kote, Hunsur, K.R.Nagar, Mysore, Nanjangud, Periyapatna and T.Narsipura with 33 hoblies, 235 Grama Panchayaths, 9 towns 3 Municipalities and Mysore City is governed by Mysore City Corporation. District consists of 1340 villages, out of which 1216 are inhabited and 124 are uninhabited villages. Table 1 shows the Taluk wise Distribution of Literates and Literacy rate in percentage and growth Rate of Literacy in Mysore district. According to Census 2011 the literacy rate of Mysore district has increased from 63.50 % in 2001 to 72.79% in 2011 with an improvement of 9.29 %. Data also reveals that among the taluks, the highest literacy rate is 82.50% in Mysore Taluk, followed by Periya Patna taluk is 70.80%. Whereas, Medium literacy rate found in K.R.Nagar, and Hunsur taluk with 68.90% and 67%. The lowest literacy rate is found in H.D.Kote, T.N.Pura and Nanjangud Taluk with 64.10%, 62.60 and 62.10 respectively.

Table 1

Sl. No	Taluks	2001		2011
		TOT_LIT	TOT_LIT (%)	TOT_LIT	TOT_LIT (%)	Growth Rate
1	H.D.Kote	111926	52.8	150106	64.10	11.3
2	Hunsur	127966	58.0	168731	67.00	9.0
3	K.R.Nagar	126062	59.7	157527	68.90	9.2
4	Mysore	701882	76.5	952290	82.50	6.0
5	Nanjangud	156128	49.6	215361	62.10	12.5
6	P.Patna	115458	59.2	154168	70.80	11.6
7	T.N.Pura	131733	53.6	163997	62.60	9.0
Total		1471155	63.50	1962180	72.79	9.29

Source: Mysore District Census Handbooks 2001-2011 & Computed by Researcher

Figure 2

The literacy rate of Mysore district is 72.79 % in 2011, as compared to 63.50% in 2001. Table 2 shows the Gender wise Distribution of Literacy Rate in percent According to the census 2011, the Literacy rate Male has increased from 70.9 % in 2001 to 78.46 % in 2011 with an improvement of 7.56% and on the other hand female Literacy rate has increased from 55.8% in 2001 to 67.06% in 2011 with an improvement of 11.26%. The Gender Gap in literacy rates in the district got declined by 3.7% over the period 2001-2011. The male Literacy is influenced by migration agriculture and industrialization and unfavorable physical situation. Among the male Literates Mysore taluk is highest with 86.30% and T.N.Pura taluk is the least i.e.67.90%. With respect to female population is concerned once again Mysore taluk has registered highest literacy rate with 78.70% followed by Periya patna Taluk with 62.10% and so on. However, Nanjangud taluk is the least literacy rate i.e., 55.80% respectively. The data clearly shows that female literacy rate is growing faster than the male literacy rate in almost all the taluks of Mysore District.

Figure 3 Figure 4

According to the table no 3 in the year 2001 rural area of Mysore district had a literacy rate of 51.84 % and in the year 2011 it has gone upto 63.29 %, and we can see that there was hike of 11.45 %. The table also reveals that during 2001, Urban areas of Mysore district had a literacy rate of 82.80% and its has slightly improved to 86.09%. According to Census, during 2001 the rural-urban gap in the literacy rate was 30.96% and it reduced to 22.8% during 2011 and we can see an improvement of 8.16%. During 2011, the rural-urban gap in literacy rate across taluks has reduced to some extent, as in the year 2011 the highest rural-urban gap was recorded in Mysore taluk with 23.02%, while the lowest rural-urban gap was seen in Periyapatna taluk with 10.9% respectively.

Figure 5

The Study Clearly indicates that there are regional disparities in respect of literacy rate in rural-urban and male-female as well as taluk wise. It also reveals that in Mysore district, the level of literacy has been improved over the period. The physical and socio-economic factors are affecting on literacy rate in Mysore District. The average literacy of region is 72.79% to total population. The Urban and rural gap in literacy has been narrowed while male-female literacy gap has broadened over the period. Furthermore, gender disparities by literacy have still exists in all over Mysore district. Rural areas of Taluks as well as females by gender are still vulnerable in the area of literacy. Especially, literacy among the rural females is very low compared to urban females. Mysore taluk is ranked top in total literacy with 82.50% while the lowest literacy rate is found in Nanjangud and T.N.Pura Taluk with 62.10% and 62.60% in the whole district. There is wide gap from the male to female population in Mysore District. The male literacy was higher than female literacy in the district. The Literacy rate Male has increased from 70.9 % in 2001 to 78.46 % in 2011 with an improvement of 7.56% and on the other hand female Literacy rate has increased from 55.8% in 2001 to 67.06% in 2011 with an improvement of 11.26% respectively. This gender gap in literacy also needs to be removed for having a healthy society and developed economy. Government of Karnataka has taken several measures to improve the literacy rate in both rural and urban areas especially female literacy. There has been a good improvement in literacy rate in Study area in last 10 years but there is still a long way to go. Karnataka government started many programs and policies in promoting education by providing various scholarships, hostels, nutritional meals with special provision for girls has yielded satisfactory output in terms of increased literacy rate in the district. Yet more scope exists, and efforts needed with holistic approach to achieve cent percent literacy.

The research reported in this paper was supported by University Grants Commission from the Post-Doctoral Fellowship for Women (UGC-PDFWM), New Delhi.