Abstract :
Gender disparity in literacy is one of the basic problems of the Indian society. Though the overall
literacy rate is gradually increasing, the female literacy rate still lags behind the male literacy rate
throughout the country. This disparity in literacy hampers the all round development of the society.
Malda as a district with low literacy records high gender disparity in literacy. According to 2011 census,
out of nineteen districts ofWest Bengal Malda occupies the second last position in terms of literacy rate.
The lower literacy and high gender disparity in literacy are obstructing the societal development of the
district. Moreover, spatial variation in gender disparity is a serious and contentious issue in the process
of development of the district. The present research work aims at highlighting the trends and regional
variations of gender disparity in literacy in Malda district. The study reveals that the male literacy rate
is substantially higher than the female literacy rate in every block. This disparity also exists by residence
(rural-urban) in the district. The work is mainly based on secondary sources of data which have been
collected primarily from Census of India, District Statistical Handbook etc. Tabulated data have been
synthesized and analyzed using MS Excel-2007, ArcGIS (version 10.3) to draw the suitable maps and
diagrams.
Keyword :
Gender Disparity Literacy Development Tal Barind Diara