Paper 2 – Section C – Social Changes in India
(iii) Industrialization and Urbanisation in India:
(a) Evolution of modern industry in India.
(b) Growth of urban settlements in India.
(c) Working class: structure, growth, class mobilization.
(d) Informal sector, child labour
(e) Slums and deprivation in urban areas.
INTRODUCTION
Urbanization is an integral part of the process of economic growth. As in most countries, India’s towns and cities make a major contribution to the country’s economy. With less than 1/3 of India’s people, its urban areas generate over 2/3 of the country’s GDP and account for 90% of government revenues. Urbanization in India has expanded rapidly as increasing numbers of people migrate to towns and cities in search of economic opportunity. Slums now account for 1/4 of all urban housing. In Mumbai, for instance, more than half the population lives in slums, many of which are situated near employment centers in the heart of town, unlike in most other developing countries.
WHAT ARE SLUMS?
The UN Habitat defined slums as “a group of individuals living under the same roof in an urban area who lack one or more of the following: 1. Permanent, long-term housing that protects against adverse climate conditions, 2. Adequate habitual area for multiple people in the same house, 3. Unchallenging and safe access to water.
SLUMS AND LIVING CHALLENGES IN URBAN AREAS
Whereas urbanisation has been an instrument of economic, social and political progress, it has led to serious socio-economic problems. The sheer magnitude of the urban population, haphazard and unplanned growth of urban areas, and a desperate lack of infrastructure are the main causes of such a situation. The rapid growth of urban population both natural and through migration, has put heavy pressure on public utilities like housing, sanitation, transport, water, electricity, health, education and so on.
Urban sprawl or real expansion of the cities, both in population and geographical area, of rapidly growing cities is the root cause of urban problems. In most cities the economic base is incapable of dealing with the problems created by their excessive size. Massive immigration from rural areas as well as from small towns into big cities has taken place almost consistently; thereby adding to the size of cities. Overcrowding is a logical consequence of over-population in urban areas. It is naturally expected that cities having a large size of population squeezed in a small space must suffer from overcrowding. This is well exhibited by almost all the big cities of India. Overcrowding leads to a chronic problem of shortage of houses in urban areas. This problem is specifically more acute in those urban areas where there is large influx of unemployed or underemployed immigrants who have no place to live in when they enter cities/towns from the surrounding areas.
For about a third of urban Indian families, a house does not include a kitchen, a bathroom, a toilet—and in many cases there is no power and water supply. Only 79 per cent (42.6 million) urban household live in permanent (pucca) houses. 67 per cent (36 million) of the urban houses are owned by the households while 29 per cent (15 million) are rented. The natural sequel of unchecked, unplanned and haphazard growth of urban areas is the growth and spread of slums and squatter settlements which present a striking feature in the ecological structure of Indian cities, especially of metropolitan centres. The rapid urbanisation in conjunction with industrialisation has resulted in the growth of slums. The proliferation of slums occurs due to many factors, such as, the shortage of developed land for housing, the high prices of land beyond the reach of urban poor, a large influx of rural migrants to the cities in search of jobs etc.
Socially, slums tend to be isolated from the rest of the urban society and exhibit pathological social symptoms (drug abuse, alcoholism, crime, vandalism and other deviant behaviour). The lack of integration of slum inhabitants into urban life reflects both, the lack of ability and cultural barriers. Thus the slums are not just huts and dilapidated buildings but are occupied by people with complexities of social-networks, sharp socio-economic stratification, dualistic group and segregated spatial structures.
GOVERNMENT INTERVENTIONS TO ENHANCE URBAN DEVELOPMENT
The Smart Cities Mission : The Smart Cities Mission is a major urban renewal program launched by the Government to develop and upgrade living conditions and infrastructure in selected 100 cities all over the country. Objective of the programme is to modernize cities by providing core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment and application of ‘Smart’ Solutions.
Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) Project : Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) along with smart cities were jointly planned and launched by the government to transform urban living conditions through infrastructure upgradation. AMRUT is aimed at transforming 500 cities and towns into efficient urban living spaces over a period of five years.
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) or Housing for All by 2022 Mission : The ‘Housing for All by 2022’ under the scheme of “Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Housing for All (Urban)” launched by the central government aims to provide housing to all urban people by 2022. It provides central assistance to States and UTs for constructing houses to all eligible sections by concentrating on urban slums and economically weaker sections.
Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission : JNNURM was launched in 2005 as the flagship scheme for urban development. The programme had two components viz., Basic Services for Urban poor (BSUP) and Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme (IHSDP). Civic amenities were improved under the programme including urban transportation.
Swachh Bharat Mission : Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) is a country-wide campaign initiated by the Government of India in 2014 to eliminate open defecation and improve solid waste management.
It is a restructured version of the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan launched in 2009. According to the dashboards maintained by ministries, more than 100 million individual household level toilets have been constructed in rural areas, and 6 million household toilets in urban areas.
CONCLUSION
The formation of slums is directly correlated to rapid urbanization around the world. This phenomenon leads to urban human settlements that represent impoverished and intra-city inequality. The lack of basic human needs affects the quality of life of slum dwellers, making it a major problem in most countries. We cannot think of strong India, economically, socially and culturally, when our cities remain squalor, quality of urban life declines and the urban environment is damaged beyond repair. As a matter of fact, cities comprise the backbone of economic expansion and urbanization is being seen in a positive light as an engine of economic growth and agent of socio-political transformation.
