The newly released data show that the scheduled caste households have higher sex ratios, and scheduled tribes the highest of all, despite having lower literacy rates than “others.” While census data is not yet available by religious group, the primary data of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes was made available by the office of the Registrar General of India and Census Commissioner on 28 October. The data show that although the numbers are improving, scheduled castes, who comprise 16.6 per cent of the population, and scheduled tribes, who make up 8.6 per cent of the population, have lower literacy rates than the Indian average. The literacy rate for female STs is still under 50% and just 57% for SC women, while the numbers are slightly higher for men.
Yet despite the common belief that education will improve attitudes to female children, the data show that India’s least educated social groups are those with better sex ratios. The child sex ratio (girls for every 1000 boys aged) is 957 for STs and 933 for SCs as compared to 910 for “others”.