With the National Statistical Office (NSO) survey revealing that Andhra Pradesh has the lowest literacy rate of 64 percent for year 2017-18, the state commissioner of school education V Chinaveerabhadrudu wrote to NSO asking it explain the methodology adopted by the statistical agency to arrive its conclusion.

Objecting to the NSO report, the state commissioner of school education stated that the report has to be reexamined and reevaluated. The Andhra Pradesh government said it does not agree with the worst literacy rate given to the state by the NSO. The Andhra Pradesh government has contested NSO literacy rating.

NSO in its report rated Andhra Pradesh lower than Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Odisha, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, and Madhya Pradesh. The lowest literacy rate is among individuals above seven years of age. The NSO surveyed 5,000 persons in some districts and even less in some others to arrive at this conclusion.

In the 2011 Census, Andhra’s literacy rate stood at 67 percent while the NSO survey claimed the literacy rate was 64 percent, pointing at a decline.