Women of Maharashtra have beaten men hollow in the field of literacy. Though the number of literate males still outnumbers their female counterparts, female literacy in the state has taken a 15 per cent jump since 1991, as against the slothful nine per cent growth in male literacy. The total percentage of literacy among women in Maharashtra has now gone up to 67.51, a 52 per cent increase since 1951, with Mumbai and its suburban district topping the list of administrative areas.