Preponderance of illiterate and unskilled workforce
•Although the average literacy rate in the country as a whole is low, in rural areas it is lower. In 2001, it was about 60% as compared to about 80% for urban population.
•The higher level of illiteracy and the lack of skills among the majority of rural people are serious constraints on their socio-economic development.
•At one extreme, India has world-class scientists, engineers, managers and academicians, at the other extreme, it has hundreds of millions of illiterates.