A backward district like Sonebhadra boasts of the maximum male literacy rate (92.66 per cent) in an urban area but the literacy growth rate is higher among women in Uttar Pradesh.
Nearly 748 villages have ceased to exist in Uttar Pradesh, possibly because of extensive land acquisition by the state government.
Releasing the data for “rural-urban distribution of population in UP” on Thursday, state census director Neena Sharma said that the total population of urban and rural UP now stands at 19.7 crore which is 3.35 crore more than the 2001 census. She said that maximum rural population in one district was in Allahabad while the district with the least rural population is Mahoba. Rural population has recorded the maximum growth rate in Shravasti (30.82 per cent) and the least in Ghaziabad (1.28 per cent).
“It is interesting to note that 18.62 per cent of the country’s rural population lives in UP. Maharashtra tops the list for maximum urban population while UP ranks second in this list (11.79 per cent),” she said.
The sex ratio in UP has also shown a marked improvement in both, rural and urban areas. In rural areas, the sex ratio has gone up to 914 in 2011 from 904 in 2001. In urban areas, the ratio has gone up to 888 in 2011 from 876 in 2001. Women outnumber men in only three districts of the state — Jaunpur, Azamgarh and Deoria.
The data also reveals that literacy growth among women is higher than among men.
“The total literacy figure in UP stands at 118.42 million of which 88.39 million belong to rural areas and 30.02 million live in urban areas,” the director informed.