Introduction: Urbanization and Informal Settlements in India
India’s cities are centers of opportunity and growth, but rapid urbanization leads to stark disparities. Millions seeking better lives reside in informal settlements (urban slums) with challenging living conditions and inadequate basic services. These areas are an integral part of India’s urban landscape.
The Modi government is launching the nationwide Urban Slums Survey 2027, led by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). This initiative aims to provide a granular, real-time understanding of life in India’s informal urban settlements, crucial for targeted policy interventions. The last major assessment of this scale was over a decade ago, making this survey vital for inclusive urban development.
Bridging the Data Divide: The Urgent Need for India’s Urban Slums Survey 2027
Urban environments evolve rapidly, making data quickly outdated. The 2012 National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) report on urban slums, while important, is now a historical record. India’s urban population has significantly increased since then, with new informal settlements emerging and existing ones transforming.
Without current, reliable data, policymakers struggle to assess existing programs and design effective new ones. The Urban Slums Survey 2027 is a strategic imperative for evidence-based governance, aiming to fill this critical information void and provide insights into changes in slum conditions over the past decade.
What Will the Urban Slums Survey 2027 Uncover? Key Areas and Indicators
The Urban Slums Survey 2027 by MoSPI will be comprehensive, gathering data across multiple critical dimensions:
- Living Conditions: Assessment of housing density, environmental sanitation, and safety, including structural integrity of dwellings and general cleanliness.
- Basic Amenities & Services: Documentation of water supply (source, regularity, potability), sanitation facilities (types, sewage, waste treatment), electricity (availability, legality, reliability), and garbage disposal mechanisms, including drainage and waste management efficiency.
- Demographic Profile: Data on population size, household count, age-sex composition, literacy rates, employment status, income levels, migration patterns, and socio-economic characteristics.
- Housing Quality: Evaluation of structural integrity, construction materials (pucca, semi-pucca, kachcha), and overcrowding. The survey will update 2012 figures, which showed 60% of slum houses had pucca structures, with disparities between notified (85%) and non-notified (42%) slums.
- Drainage & Waste Management Infrastructure: Detailed examination of drainage facilities (functionality, reach, capacity) and garbage disposal systems (collection frequency, methods, informal practices). The 2012 survey found 31% of all slums lacked drainage, with 45% in non-notified slums.
- Urban Infrastructure: Assessment of internal roads, footpaths, street lighting, and community spaces. The survey will re-evaluate concerns from 2012, where 32% of slums reported waterlogging on approach roads.
This data collection aims to build a robust database to inform effective urban poverty alleviation and infrastructure programs for equitable urban growth.
Deep Dive: Living Conditions and Essential Amenities in the Urban Slums Survey 2027
The Urban Slums Survey 2027 will meticulously explore specific details of quality of life in urban informal settlements:
- Water Access: Investigating sources (individual taps, community taps, borewells, public hand pumps, informal sources), supply regularity, water quality, and travel distance for potable water.
- Sanitation Facilities: Differentiating between individual household latrines, shared community toilets, and open defecation practices, assessing accessibility, cleanliness, and functionality.
- Electricity Access: Examining availability, legality (formal vs. informal hook-ups), and reliability (frequency of power cuts).
Granular data on these amenities is critical for public health, safety, education, and economic productivity, guiding targeted interventions.
Tracking Progress: India’s Legacy of Urban Slum Surveys
India has a long history of systematic surveys on urban informal settlements, primarily led by the NSSO under MoSPI. Key milestones include:
- 1976-77 (31st Round): First national survey on the ‘economic condition of slum dwellers’ in major towns.
- 1993 (49th Round): Broadened scope to include informal settlements in rural and urban areas.
- 2002 (58th Round): Focused specifically on urban slums.
- 2008-09 (65th Round): Continued tracking changes in urban slums.
- 2012 (69th Round): Provided crucial baseline indicators for urban slums nationwide, serving as a benchmark for the Urban Slums Survey 2027.
Each survey refined definitions and data collection parameters, building upon previous insights. The Urban Slums Survey 2027 continues this legacy, adapting to contemporary urban realities with advanced data collection techniques.
Decade of Disparity: Key Findings from the 2012 NSSO Urban Slum Survey
The 69th round NSSO survey (July-December 2012) provided critical baseline data:
- Magnitude of Slums: An estimated 33,510 urban slums nationwide housed approximately 8.8 million households. Notified slums (41% of slums) housed 63% of households.
- Geographic Hotspots: Maharashtra (23%), Andhra Pradesh (13.5%), and West Bengal (11.8%) had the most urban slums.
- Average Slum Size: The national average was 263 households, with notified slums larger (404 households) than non-notified (165 households). Maharashtra had the highest average (433 households).
- Land Ownership Challenges: 44% of all slums were on private land (48% notified, 41% non-notified).
- Housing Structure Disparity: 60% of all slums had mostly pucca houses, with 85% in notified slums versus 42% in non-notified slums.
- Critical Gaps in Basic Facilities (2012):
- Drinking Water: 71% of all slums had tap water; 64% in non-notified vs. 82% in notified.
- Electricity: 11% of non-notified slums lacked electricity, compared to 0.1% in notified slums.
- Roads: 66% of all slums had pucca roads; 55% in non-notified vs. 83% in notified.
- Latrine Facility: 31% of all slums lacked latrines; 42% in non-notified slums.
- Drainage: 31% of all slums lacked drainage; 45% in non-notified slums.
- Garbage Disposal: 27% of all slums had no formal disposal; 38% in non-notified slums.
- Waterlogging: 32% of all slums experienced waterlogging on approach roads.
- Limited Welfare Scheme Reach: Only 24% of all slums benefited from welfare schemes (32% notified, 18% non-notified).
The 2012 data highlighted profound disparities, especially for non-notified slums. The Urban Slums Survey 2027 will track the evolution of these indicators.
Data-Driven Future: How the Urban Slums Survey 2027 Will Transform Urban Policy
The Urban Slums Survey 2027 data will fundamentally transform urban policy and development:
- Precision in Urban Poverty Alleviation: Pinpointing vulnerable settlements and their deficits will enable tailored economic empowerment, skill development, and employment initiatives based on demographic and economic profiles.
- Smarter Infrastructure Planning: Detailed assessment of water, sanitation, electricity, drainage, and roads will prioritize critical infrastructure upgrades, improving living standards and public health. Granular data on waterlogging will inform storm-water management, and waste disposal insights will guide municipal systems.
- Enhanced Housing Strategies: Focus on housing quality (pucca, semi-pucca, kachcha) will inform slum rehabilitation, land tenure regularization, and housing improvement financial assistance, especially in non-notified settlements. Understanding land ownership will inform land acquisition and redevelopment models.
- Improved Health and Education Services: Demographic and service access data will highlight areas needing enhanced health infrastructure and educational facilities, enabling targeted resource allocation and outreach.
- Recognition and Integration of Non-Notified Slums: The survey will provide updated figures on non-notified slums to inform policies that reach those most in need. Official recognition or formal integration can unlock municipal services, confer tenure security, and foster social and economic mobility, promoting equitable and inclusive urban growth. This data will facilitate a shift from ‘eviction-centric’ to ‘in-situ slum upgrading’ and ‘rehabilitation.’
The Urban Slums Survey 2027 data will serve as a powerful tool for accountability, enabling monitoring and evaluation of urban development initiatives against measurable improvements for all urban residents, contributing to truly inclusive and sustainable Indian cities.
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