UNDERSTANDING THE LITERACY ALONG THE KONKAN DIVISION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY ACROSS DISTRICTS

Education is a fundamental pillar of socio-economic upliftment that serves as a catalyst for personal development, promoting social equity and fostering economic growth. Being one of the pivotal components of social change, it brings socio-economic and cultural development to society. Data from census reports was utilized and based on that changing patterns of literacy in the Konkan region was calculated using cartographic technique. The observed data showed that compared to the state average (82.91%), the overall literacy rate in the Konkan division is much higher (86.40%). As per the 2011 census, the average literacy rate in the Konkan region was 86.40 percent, of which male literacy was 91.91 percent and female literacy was 80.80 percent. The results also reveal that coastal regions are performing better in terms of all variables of literacy (i.e. average literacy, male literacy and female literacy) compared to the other divisions of Maharashtra state. This discrepancy may be due to the increased development of coastal regions through advances in trade, transportation and communication facilities.