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Despite a big increase in college attendance, especially among women, fewer than one out of every 10 Indians is a graduate, new Census data show. The Census Data shows that India, despite producing 6.8 crore graduates and above, has more than six times as many illiterates.

Revealing shocking trends, the office of the Census Commissioner and Registrar-General of India released new numbers depicting the level of education achieved by Indians as of 2011.

Reversing popular beliefs among people in general, the rate of increase in graduates has been faster in rural than in urban India over the last decade, and fastest of all among rural women. The data indicates that 67 lakh rural women are currently a graduate.

The rural Indians are more likely to have non-technical graduate degrees than urban Indians, too.

On an upside, the new Census data also shows the biggest increase in the number of people pursuing engineering and technology diplomas equivalent to a graduate or postgraduate degree. The percentage of women technology graduates equivalents has more than tripled. The country has also witnessed over 30 lakh people with a teaching degree and over 15 lakh people with a medical degree.

Chandigarh and Delhi have emerged as clear winners in terms of the proportion of graduates, with one in every five people being one. Maharashtra follows a close second while Bihar and Assam are worst off.

With the notable exceptions of Chandigarh and Kerala, the proportion of male graduates is higher than that of women.

The proportion of graduates among the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is far lower than the national average. While people belonging to the Scheduled Castes account for just four percent of the total, for Scheduled Tribes, it is below three per cent, and lower still for women.