Common Tongue: Indian District Literacy and Language Policy Impact

This dataset by Tarun Jain analyzes the relationship between official language policies and educational outcomes across Indian districts from the colonial era through the 1956 reorganization. It tracks literacy and college graduation rates to measure the impact of linguistic mismatches between the population and the medium of instruction. The data supports findings that mismatched districts experienced significantly lower educational achievement until political reorganization occurred.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the correlation between linguistic match status and district-level literacy rates
• Evaluating the impact of the 1956 reorganization on college graduation rates
• Econometric modeling of educational achievement gaps caused by medium-of-instruction policies

Strengths

• Includes specific metrics for literacy and college graduation rates
• Covers the pivotal 1956 reorganization of Indian states
• Distinguishes between matched and mismatched linguistic districts based on colonial administrative boundaries

Limitations

• Geographic scope is limited strictly to India
• Metadata does not specify the exact number of districts or years covered

Provenance

Source

Tarun Jain, ICPSR Harvested Dataverse

Collection Method

Compiled from historical census records and colonial administrative documents

Time Range

Colonial era through post-1956

Freshness

Last updated February 2026; contains historical census-based records.

Geography

India