Muslims who are 11.5% of state’s population have a literacy rate of 83.6%, whereas Hindus who are 79.8% have 81.8% literates

Muslims in Maharashtra have raced past their Hindu counterparts in literacy rate.



The report also states that Jains have the highest literacy rate of 95.3% in Maharashtra. Pic for representation

The state’s economic survey report for the year 2015-16 has religion wise information available on this. The report was tabled in the legislature a day before the budget for 2016-17 is presented today.

It says that the Muslims who are 11.5% of Maharashtra’s total population have a literacy rate of 83.6%, whereas Hindus who are 79.8% have 81.8% literates among them. However, Muslims’ national literacy average is much less (68.5%) than what they have in Maharashtra.

The adult literacy rate of the state increased to 82.3 per cent in 2011 from 76.9 per cent in 2001. Jains have the highest literacy rate of 95.3%.

As per the 2011 census, the state’s population is 11.24 crore which is 9.3% of the country’s population and it ranks second after Uttar Pradesh in terms of population. The proportion of urban population is 45.2% in 2011 as against 42.4 % in 2001.

Sex ratio improved

The state has observed overall improvement in sex ratio from 922 (922 women per 1,000 men) in 2001 to 929 in 2011. Sex ratio in rural areas of the state has decreased from 960 in 2001 to 952 in 2011, whereas, it has increased in urban areas from 873 to 903 during the same period.

The Christian population has the highest sex ratio (1031) in 2011, whereas Sikh population has the lowest (891).

8% economic growth forecast

The Maharashtra economy is expected to grow at 8% in the coming financial year, which is higher than the national forecast (7.5%). The state has always been a major contributor to the national economy.

As the agricultural economy is largely governed by monsoon, growth in this sector has plummeted this year. However, Industry and Services sectors have managed to drive the state economy to a fairly decent growth this year, says the economic survey report.

In the services sector, repairs, hotels & restaurants, transport, storage, communication and services related to broadcasting sector are expected to grow at 9.0%.