Mizoram ranks third in literacy rate in India: minister

With a literacy rate of 91.3 per cent, Mizoram is holding the third position in the country, state School Education Minister Lalchhandama Ralte said here on Wednesday.

The minister did not mention the two other states that are ahead of Mizoram in literacy. However, according to the 2011 Census, the Northeastern state is behind Kerala (94.0 per cent) and Lakshadweep (91.8 per cent).

Addressing a function on the occasion of the International Literacy Day here, Ralte said now there are an estimated 36,700 illiterate people in the state at present.

"There were 43,341 illiterates when the state education department conducted a survey in 2015. Of them, around 7,000 became literate," he said.

The population of Mizoram is 10,97,206, according to the 2011 Census.

The minister sought the cooperation of the civil societies and church leaders in achieving hundred per cent literacy in the state.