Tuesday, March 15 2005 14:51 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: There were 30.41 crore non-literates in the seven-plus age group in the country as per the 2001 census, Lok Sabha was informed today (Mar 15, 2005).

Maintaining that the National Literacy Mission had targeted to achieve a sustainable 75 per cent literacy rate by 2007, HRD Minister Arjun Singh said during Question Hour that Uttar Pradesh topped the list of illiterates with over 5.88 crore, followed by Bihar with 3.51 crore and Andhra Pradesh with 2.61 crore.

The other States, which had notable presence of illiterates, included Maharashtra, Gujarat, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

In reply to another question on enrolment, Singh said there were 2.18 crore children in classes IX and X as on September 2002.