Male-female literacy differential in India--1981.

The author examines inequalities in the literacy rates between males and females in India. Regional variations in literacy are examined by district using maps. "The male-female literacy differential is low in coastal, peripheral and metropolitan areas and is high in inland and mountainous areas. These regional disparities are the product of differences in length of educational background, age at marriage, level of urbanisation, standard of living and proportion of socially conservative and backward sections of society.... The study in spatial dimension provides a strong base for the removal of sex biased discrimination in society."