17.4% of Indian households in slums

Minister for Housing & Poverty Alleviation Ajay Maken says numbers mark decline in slum households from 23% in 2001

Slum households comprise 17.4% of the households in the country with Vishakhapatnam having the most number of such households according to the first ever survey of slum households by the Census of India, whose findings were released today.

The census surveyed slum households in close to 4000 statutory towns (any settlement with more than 5,000 population and 75% pursuing non agricultural work qualifies to be a statutory town)  for data on slum households leaving out census towns as part of the first ever Housing stock, Amenities and Assets in Slums census.

The Minister for Housing and Poverty Alleviation Ajay Maken who was present on the occasion said that the numbers mark a decline in slum households from 23% in the 2001 Census. (NOT A MILLION-AIR DIVIDE ANYMORE)

However Registrar General of India Dr C Chandramouli  told Business Standard that there is no officially comparable data with the census as this is the first ever household survey of slums. We have no clue as to what were the number of slum households in 2001, he said. Earlier census data only recorded the number of people but not the households in slums, he says.

The census defines a slum as a settlement of at least 60 households of poorly built congested tenements in unhygienic environment usually with inadequate infrastructure and lacking in drinking water and sanitation facilities. The revised definition given by the Planning Commission committee on slums headed  by Pronob Sen considered a settlement of at least 20 households in such conditions as a slum. We would be analyzing these numbers on the basis of the new definition also. It is likely to increase the number of slum households, Chandramouli said.

Among cities with population of more than a million, Vishakapatnam tops the list with 44% slum households followed by Jabalpur with 43 percent, Greater Mumbai with 41%, Meerut with 40% and Raipur with 39%.

Cities in Madhya Pradesh like Indore, Bhopal and Gwalior have between 28 to 29% slum households.

Chennai, and Hyderabad have 28 and 31 respectively, while Kolkota has 29%.

Among states, Andhra Pradesh has the largest number of such households at 35%, followed by tiny Chattisgarh with 31%, Madhya Pradesh with 28.3%, Maharashtra with 22.7%, West Bengal with 21% and Jammu and Kashmir reporting 18.8%.
National Capital Territory of Delhi (including 19 census towns ) reported 11.8% slum households  while Haryana bordering Delhi reported 18% slum households.

Gujarat which has been an industrial hub has reported one of the lowest%age of slum households in the country at 6.7%.

It is lower than that of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and even union territories like Puducherry (17 pc) and Andamans (8.9 pc) or tiny Sikkim with (9.6%).

Comparable states are Jharkhand with 5.3,  Assam with 4.8 , Goa with 2.4 and Kerala with 1.5%.