This paper examines the hypothesis that contraceptive use of illiterate women having literate partners (proximate literates), may be higher than that of illiterate women whose partners too are illiterates (isolate illiterates) using Demographic Health Survey data for India (2005-2006). Results reveal that the proximate illiteracy effect is significant, though restricted to specific groups; it varies according to contraceptive method; increasing the partner’s education level does not increase strength of the externality effect; literacy of other female household members does not matter; and accounting for self selection into marriage increases strength of externality effect.