According to the 2011 census of India, the State of Rajasthan had the lowest literacy rate of _______.
- (1)55.42%
- (2)61.8%
- (3)66.11%
- (4)65.39%
Correct — option (3), 66.11%. This is the literacy rate recorded for Rajasthan in the 2011 census. Rajasthan's literacy rate was among the lowest of any major Indian state that census, and the figure of 66.11% is the one that belongs specifically to Rajasthan, as distinct from the very similar-looking figures for two other low-literacy states offered in the other options. The question is really asking a candidate to attach the correct number to the correct state out of a cluster of states that all sat in the same low band in 2011.
- (1)55.42% — 55.42% is not a state's literacy figure from the 2011 census at all — no major Indian state recorded a literacy rate this low that year. It functions as a plausible-looking but unattached number rather than a genuine rival state's rate.
- (2)61.8% — 61.8% is Bihar's literacy rate in the 2011 census, and it is in fact the lowest among all Indian states nationally — lower than Rajasthan's own 66.11%. It is included here precisely because a candidate who recalls 'lowest literacy rate, 2011 census' but not which specific state the question is asking about is likely to reach for Bihar's figure instead of Rajasthan's.
- (4)65.39% — 65.39% is close to Arunachal Pradesh's 2011 literacy rate (65.38%), which sat between Bihar's and Rajasthan's in the national ranking. It is deliberately close to the correct 66.11% to catch a candidate who has the right region of the scale in mind but the wrong state's exact figure.
The 2011 census literacy figures cluster several states — Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh and Rajasthan among them — within a few percentage points of each other at the bottom of the national ranking, which makes this exactly the kind of question where a candidate must hold the specific state-to-number pairing rather than a general sense of 'this is a low number.'
MPSC census questions frequently test recall of a specific state's exact figure by surrounding it with the very close figures of neighbouring low-ranked states, rather than with obviously wrong numbers. A short table of the lowest-literacy states and their exact 2011 figures is the only reliable defence against this kind of question.
- Rajasthan's literacy rate in the 2011 census was 66.11%.
- Bihar recorded 61.8%, the lowest literacy rate among Indian states in the 2011 census.
- Arunachal Pradesh recorded approximately 65.38%, the second-lowest among Indian states in the 2011 census.
- These three states — Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh and Rajasthan — occupied the bottom of the national literacy ranking in 2011, in that order.
Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh and Rajasthan cluster within a few points of each other — the pairing, not the magnitude, is the test.
- Attaching the correct 'lowest literacy' framing to the wrong state among a cluster of similarly low-ranked states (Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, Rajasthan)
- Confusing closely spaced percentage figures (65.38%, 65.39%, 66.11%) belonging to different states
MPSC often tests an exact census percentage by offering the real figures of several neighbouring low-ranked (or high-ranked) states as distractors, so the trap is in the precision of the pairing rather than the general magnitude of the number. A short memorised table of the extreme values is the reliable defence.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
According to the 2011 census, which Indian state recorded the lowest overall literacy rate, at 61.8%?
- (a)Rajasthan
- (b)Arunachal Pradesh
- (c)Bihar
- (d)Jharkhand
Answer(c) Bihar — the lowest literacy rate among Indian states in the 2011 census, below Arunachal Pradesh's 65.38% and Rajasthan's 66.11%.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Rajasthan's literacy rate as recorded in the 2011 census was closest to:
- (a)61.8%
- (b)65.38%
- (c)66.11%
- (d)70.2%
Answer(c) 66.11% — Rajasthan's recorded literacy rate in the 2011 census.